Because Why Not?
by Spat915
Summary: It's team RWBY's third and final year at beacon. With graduation looming closer, Weiss is starting to dread her life after school that has already been planned out for her. Cue a night of drinking where Ruby finds out that her feelings may be reciprocated, and Weiss finds herself faced with a decision that may just save her life. The question is: how far will Ruby go for her?
1. Overture I

Team RWBY stumbled off the transport onto the landing pad at their school. The mission they'd just come back from had been nothing less than hell. Six dens of beowolves, three packs of Ursi, and two deathstalkers had each taken a toll on the team. Between them, they had enough injuries to write a thirty page list of them. None were major, but more than a few were troublesome, causing the girls to limp and cradle their arms to their chests. The team stopped at the fountain, the will to continue to their dorm extinguished at the sight of the flowing water and empty seats.

"I could stay here forever!" Ruby stated to mumbled agreements from her team.

As they sat there a breeze started, pushing mist from the fountain their way.

"That feels terrific!" Weiss sighed as she pulled her hairpin out so her hair could flow free in the wind.

Yang pulled out her scroll and noticed a message. "Looks like we got something."

"What is it?" Ruby asked as she started massaging her bicep to keep it from cramping after its brutal overuse.

"Shit! We got fifty thousand lien!" Yang exclaimed. "What are we gonna spend it on?"

"Why don't we invest it?" Weiss asked. "I'm sure I could double that by next month."

"That might be a good idea." Ruby nodded. "What do you think, Blake?"

"Well…" Yang looked somewhat disappointed, so Blake decided it would be easiest to pass on this conversation. "What would you want to do Yang?"

"Well, if it was up to me, I'd challenge all of you to a shot contest!" Yang decided to nobody's surprise.

"No." Ruby said simply followed by Weiss and Blake both nodding their agreement with her.

"You guys are no fun. You're all just afraid I'll beat you!" Yang pouted.

"Correction. We can spend the money on almost anything else and it would be guaranteed to be a better choice than spending it on the consumption of alcohol." Weiss said simply.

"Chicken!" Yang crowed, followed by animal noises.

Ruby watched as she saw Weiss set her jaw under the relentless torment her sister was unleashing. Weiss looked terrifying as she stood up and turned to Yang.

"We will all go back to the room and shower." Weiss said before pointing at Yang. "And then I will destroy you at your own game under one condition."

"Anything!" Yang grinned excitedly.

"You never suggest drinking away our bonuses again." Weiss said simply.

"Fine, but in exchange if I win, you do any one thing that I say." Yang's grin widened.

"I accept your bet, but it doesn't matter. A Schnee never loses!" Weiss said before limping off.

"I guess we're going drinking." Blake commented as she slowly rose to her feet.

"Why can't we ever bake cookies?" Ruby asked as she followed.

"Cheer up little sis!" Yang patted Ruby on her shoulder. "When I win, I'll get Weiss to give you a big kiss as an apology."

"Yang…" Ruby groaned. She was too tired to deal with Yang's teasing right now.

"Come on. Otherwise Weiss will be done before we even get back." Blake said, successfully getting Yang to stop her teasing and get them all in motion.

"I'm never signing us up for another clearing mission. Ever." Ruby groaned as she felt her arm start to cramp up. Hopefully the hot water would help relax the muscle enough for the coming evening to be somewhat enjoyable.

* * *

"Here we are, team!" Ruby announced as they stopped in front of Yang's selected bar.

"I still don't see why I had to come." Blake stated as she slowly turned a page in the book she was reading.

"Aw, don't be such a killjoy." Yang pushed Blake forward to the door as the others followed closely behind them.

The music in the bar was loud, the bass sending vibrations through the floor as the song changed from one to the next without so much as a second of a pause. The dance floor was already moderately populated while the bar was full with people getting the night's first round.

"Let's all have a drink before we get down to business, yeah?" Yang said loudly to the group, nodding at Weiss with reference to their bet.

"It won't help you any." Weiss taunted as she walked past Yang.

In front of Weiss, the patrons at the bar parted to let her through. Her team kept close behind her as the crowd closed behind her. It was due in part to her fame as the heiress of Schnee Dust and part due to the fact that her father had decided to publish a biography of her life so far, that almost everyone in the crowd knew who she was and the power she had at her disposal. And though she'd only ever voiced her opinions to her team, she frowned her disapproval at the special treatment.

Yang ordered their drinks and they left the bar to relax at one of the open booths along the side wall. A waitress came by and refilled their drinks three times before Weiss's impatience got the better of her.

"So are we going to keep drinking this weak Guinness all night? Or are we going to resolve our bet?" Weiss asked Yang, breaking up the conversation she'd been having with Ruby.

"How about we all compete?" Yang asked, elbowing Blake to get her attention away from her book.

"Someone has to make sure you three get back to the dorm alive." Blake replied with her usual sarcasm.

"Whelp, Blake's out. How about you Ruby?" Yang asked while Weiss talked to the waitress, ordering shots for the table.

"I guess… I don't want to compete though. I'll just have a couple shots with you guys." Ruby said. She had only finished half of her first pint before deciding she didn't care for the bitter taste of the beer. Yang had been more than happy to finish it for her along with Blake's untouched drink.

"Alright!" Yang cheered as the shots arrived. She passed one to Ruby and Weiss before taking one herself. "Okay. Rules are simple. First person to quit, puke, or pass out loses. Ready to lose, Weiss?"

"Kindly keep your delusions to yourself." Weiss replied. She picked up the glass and tossed it back with Yang mirroring her movement. Ruby followed a moment after, coughing slightly as the liquid stung her throat.

"Okay there Ruby?" Yang asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah… I don't think I've been missing much." She replied sourly.

"Well, that's because that shot was whiskey." Weiss said, passing a clear one over to Ruby and Yang before taking her own. "This is vodka. It's much smoother, I assure you."

With that the three once again took their shots. Ruby didn't feel the burn on her throat as she had with the whiskey, but nevertheless felt her cheeks warm up considerably.

"I'm sitting the next few rounds out." She said before her sister could serve her another shot. "You two have fun."

"More for us then!" Yang exclaimed as she tossed back her shot. Weiss copied her and tilted her head as she swallowed.

* * *

"How are you faring, Blondie?" Weiss asked with her usual smirk. Her cheeks were starting to take on a very slight blush. Yang on the other hand looked as unaffected as if she hadn't had a drop to drink all night.

"Perfect. How about we get this contest over so I can claim my prize?" Yang asked as the waitress brought another tray filled with shots and took the old one away.

"You'll be sadly disappointed." Weiss replied, taking three shots in quick succession and waiting for Yang to follow.

The two kept drinking with Ruby occasionally joining in whenever there was a new type of shot to try. And by the time the fourth tray of drinks came and left, all three of them were noticeably drunk.

"Whats that?" Ruby asked, picking up a green shot and eying it before taking a small sip.

"It's a kamikaze." Yang said after downing her shots. Weiss took hers along with two more to start the next round.

"I think… it means… something." Weiss mused, watching Ruby finish the shot. "I can't remember right now…"

"Well, I think I heard something about that a while back." Yang said. Despite the fact that she'd matched Weiss shot for shot, it seemed as if she hadn't had anything at all. "So, Blake. Who do you think is going to win this battle of shots?"

"Honestly?" Blake asked to nods from the other three. "Nobody. But if I had to choose, I'd say Ruby."

"I'm not even competing!" Ruby said after the moment it had taken for Blake's words to register.

"Then I'd say Weiss. And I think I'll be leaving shortly, so finish up. I'll take Yang back as usual." Blake said, flagging down the waitress to settle the tab.

"Okay! Last one to finish the shots loses!" Yang shouted already taking two of the remaining shots as soon as she'd finished her sentence.

Weiss started taking drink after drink until there was nothing left. She looked down to find both her and Yang had finished even. The only drink left on the table was the one Ruby was sipping. She looked up at Yang for a moment before realizing that she was actually considering taking Ruby's shot to win.

"Ruby…" Weiss started but couldn't string the next words together properly.

"Mind if I finish your shot?" Yang asked, holding out her hand expectantly.

Ruby looked between Weiss and her sister for a few seconds before looking down at the drink in her hand. She looked back up at Weiss who was looking at her pleadingly.

"Uh…" Ruby searched her brain for the right answer and found only one. "Nope!"

She drank the rest of the shot out of the glass and put it back on the table. She didn't swallow as she had a feeling it would be a bad idea as she already felt on the verge of being sick. As soon as the glass left her hand Ruby felt her face being pulled toward Weiss.

Her vision took a second to realize Weiss was holding her face with both of her hands and leaning ever closer.

"Hmmph? Hmm?!" Ruby tried to ask without spitting as Yang stood from the bench clutching her stomach.

"Be right back!" She yelled before sprinting off for the washroom. Blake followed right away, leaving the two girls alone in their booth.

"A Schnee never loses." Weiss answered before connecting her lips to a surprised Ruby. Her tongue prodded at Ruby's lips, coaxing them open before Weiss sucked what was left of the shot from Ruby's mouth.

"What?" Ruby asked again as Weiss broke the kiss and stood up.

"I win!" Weiss exclaimed pumping her fist in the air and jumping. Just as her celebration started she was knocked back into the booth by a group of rowdy boys who barreled past without even a glance in their direction.

Weiss opened her eyes, finding herself in Ruby's lap. For a moment, she was confused as to how she got there, then decided she didn't care.

"How… is your skin so soft?" Weiss asked, reaching up to Ruby's shoulder and rubbing her hand across the skin Ruby had exposed from her evening attire.

"Um… it just is?" Ruby asked in return to a few giggles from Weiss. "You laugh cute."

"Dolt!" Weiss giggled as she crawled into a proper sitting position before leaning on Ruby's shoulder. The whole time she didn't stop trailing her hands over Ruby's exposed skin, causing goose bumps to emerge.

"I'm taking Yang home." Blake announced to Ruby as she supported Yang. "The bill is paid, so you can leave whenever."

"Okay." Ruby said as she watched the other two leave. Not once did Weiss give any indication she'd even noticed the other two as she traced the muscles in Ruby's arms.

"You're really strong, aren't you?" Weiss asked in a voice that said she was flirting with her.

"Kind of…" Ruby replied. "We should go home now."

"But you're so warm and soft…" Weiss argued, abandoning her tracing in favor of wrapping her arms around Ruby's back to pull her closer as she started peppering small kisses along her neck.

"Wow… uh… l-let's go… we'll uh… um." Ruby lost her train of thought momentarily as Weiss found a spot that sent a shiver down her spine. "Weiss!"

The loud bark surprised Weiss enough for her to let Ruby out of her embrace. Weiss looked like she had been kicked and Ruby couldn't help but feel sorry.

"Weiss." She started, much quieter than she'd yelled moments ago. "Let's go someplace quiet."

"Okay." Weiss perked up and took to her wobbly feet. She quickly wrapped Ruby in a half hug as the two of them stumbled out of the bar to a couple of wolf whistles from the guys that saw them.

Out on the street, without the music blaring and crowds talking, Ruby was able to get some of her bearings.

"We should go home." Ruby said while turning them toward the way they'd taken to get there.

"I don't wanna." Weiss whined as Ruby led her back. They'd only gone a couple of blocks when Weiss stumbled away from Ruby who followed her partner reluctantly. Ruby looked up to find themselves at the entrance to a rundown looking roadside motel that was surrounded by buildings at least twice the size as the strip of rooms. A orange vacancy sign glowed bright on the front window of the office that looked as if it had been cleaned with cooking oil.

"Where are you going?" Ruby whined in return as Weiss made a beeline for the front door.

She followed Weiss inside the office that looked just as dirty as the window suggested.

"I want your finest room!" Weiss almost shouted at the teenager who sat behind the desk playing on a portable game system.

"Ain't no fine rooms here. But its six thou a night. Checkout at two. Cash in advance. If you don't got cash theres a machine right there." He pointed quickly before returning to the game he was playing. He didn't even look up at them.

"Here." Weiss pulled out a few bills and slammed them down on the counter. The boy spun his chair and snatched a random key off a rack. Then he swapped the key for the money.

"That'll open one of them. If you break anything you'll be charged for it." He said while he continued his game.

"Thank you kind sir!" Weiss said before marching out with Ruby right behind her.

"Whatever." He responded before the door shut.

"Alright Ruby! Take me to my chambers!" Weiss ordered while holding out the key for Ruby to take.

"O-kay…" Ruby said looking down at the number three on the key's tag. She had just walked past Weiss when the heiress caught her arm.

"You're supposed to carry me!" Weiss whined while readjusting her grip to wrap around Ruby's shoulders.

"But I'm tired!" Ruby complained. Weiss started kissing her neck again while whispering please in between pecks. Ruby's resolve quickly dissolved and she grumbled a fine. She picked Weiss up bridal style and carried her the three meters they had still to go to the door. Ruby unlocked the door and kicked it open and threw Weiss onto the bed so she could lock the door. Weiss shrieked as she flew and bounced on the bed.

"Ruby! What the hell?" Weiss yelled from the bed as Ruby turned the deadbolt and latched the chain onto the door.

"Oh shut up. You're the one who tackled me off a cliff not twenty four hours ago." Ruby replied while kicking her shoes off and taking Weiss's shoes from her.

"This bed is so cold." Weiss complained.

"You're the one who rented it." Ruby replied as she went into the washroom to wash up. While she did, she heard Weiss complaining about whatever. She couldn't exactly make out what she was saying but by the sounds of it she was just lonely. "Hold on I'll be right there!"

When she reentered the main area she found Weiss curled into a ball on top of the covers that were still tucked loosely into the edges of the mattress. Weiss seemed to be in a nervous state judging by the constant movement of her hands that slowed considerably once she noticed Ruby.

"So I guess I'll take the chair?" Ruby asked as she walked around the bed to sit in the lone chair in the room.

"No!" Weiss sat bolt upright and caught Ruby's arm. She leaned back, pulling Ruby on top of her before she rolled them both farther onto the bed. Weiss's arms wrapped around Ruby's waist tightly, keeping her from escaping. "I don't wanna be alone anymore."

Weiss's voice had turned to a whisper that Ruby had never heard from the heiress. It sounded scared and tired and excited all at the same time. Weiss cuddled up to her as she remembered she used to cuddle up to Yang on cold winter nights back when they were both little kids. It was almost the same feeling now. Ruby had the faint desire to simply lay there and let Weiss use her as a talisman to keep her demons at bay, but she knew there was a part of the situation that had never existed when it had been her and her adopted sister.

"Weiss, let me get the blanket, okay?" Ruby asked and Weiss moved to help her pull the ugly brown comforter out from under them. Weiss hit the light switch shortly after Ruby had reclined back onto the pillows, leaving both of them in semi-darkness due to the thin blinds on the window.

"Ruby… I'm sorry…" Weiss said as she cuddled up to Ruby and wrapped her arms loosely over her stomach.

"For what?" Ruby asked, confused at Weiss's change in behavior.

"I kissed you to win the bet with your sister." She said regretfully.

"That's okay…. It's not exactly the first time something crazy happened when Yang made a bet." Ruby replied, finding it easier to rest her arm around Weiss's back since she was using her shoulder as a pillow.

"That was your first kiss, wasn't it?" Weiss asked again before falling quiet.

"Well… uh, yeah…. It wasn't yours though, right?" Ruby asked, realizing she hadn't actually ever spoken with her partner about her private life outside of Beacon.

"Yeah… I don't know if I liked it." Weiss said, removing her hand from Ruby's waist to reach up to her lips as if she could decide from touching them. After several moments of silence, just when Ruby thought Weiss had fallen asleep on her, she spoke. "Maybe if we try it again I'll know what I think?"

"A-are you asking to k-kiss me?" Ruby stuttered, surprised at the heiresses advances. Weiss gave no answer to the question, simply replacing her hand on Ruby's abs and gently feeling the defined muscles through Ruby's shirt. "Uh… I… um, guess its… uh… okay."

Ruby felt Weiss shift and the next moment she felt Weiss's soft lips meet hers. Her lips were tender and moist, flipping a switch and lighting a fire under Ruby's skin as the two nipped playfully at each others lips. Weiss poked her lip and Ruby felt herself open her mouth to allow Weiss's tongue entrance, finding herself mirroring the heiress and exploring her mouth as well.

Ruby's mind quickly went fuzzy with the fire that spread throughout her entire body. As if by reading her mind, Weiss started to unbutton Ruby's shirt before moving on to her own. Once free of the stifling fabric the two pressed their bodies together, not once breaking their kiss as Weiss started undoing their skirts. Their skirts joined their shirts on the floor and the blanket was pulled up to keep them warm.

Ruby felt a wave of exhaustion hit her as Weiss moved from kissing her properly to small pecks and nibbles at her neck. Ruby closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation as she fell slowly into sleep.

Weiss continued her treatment of Ruby's neck, enjoying the moans escaping the younger girl's mouth. After a while she lost track of what she was doing and fell asleep with her body pressed intimately to Ruby's.


	2. Overture II

Weiss opened her eyes to pain. Pain that stabbed deep into her retinas as the previous night's drinking came back for revenge. Even after she squeezed her eyes shut, her head continued throbbing and she wished she had a few painkillers. But the thought left her head when she realized the pillow she was using felt awfully warm and smooth compared to normal. Her hand also seemed caught beneath some sort of wire pressed against a lump in the pillow. She squeezed the lump carefully to get rid of it, wondering why she couldn't remember where she was when a quiet moan drifted to her ear from directly above her.

Her eyes snapped wide open despite the brightness of the room, bringing her pillow into sharp focus. It was Ruby. More specifically, Weiss had her head rested on Ruby's chest and her hand had found its way under Ruby's bra. Their undergarments seeming to be the only clothing that had managed to stay on them.

Weiss carefully extracted her hand and looked up to find Ruby smiling down at her.

"Morning Snowflake." She whispered, being kind to both their hangovers. She leaned down slightly and surprised Weiss by kissing her. And she deepened the kiss the moment Weiss opened her mouth to object to the intimate contact.

Weiss jumped away after the briefest of moments, her face glowing red.

"W-what do you think you're doing?" Weiss asked harshly as she hid her lips behind her hand as if afraid they might fall off.

"Um… what it looks like? Giving my girlfriend a good morning kiss?" Ruby asked in confusion as she sat up.

"I am not, nor was I ever your girlfriend. And what happened last night?" Weiss asked again, continuing her interrogation and ignoring the increasingly painful headache she was experiencing.

"Well, you won the shot contest. Then… you sort of went all cuddly on me and here we are!" Ruby summarized poorly.

"Please tell me we didn't do anything… obscene." Weiss sighed as she got up and dressed in her clothing again.

"No. We just had an amazing make-out session." Ruby breathed, remembering the fire that Weiss had lit within her. A small shiver working its way down her spine as her excitement came back.

"Right. Well, just forget that ever happened and we won't have any problems." Weiss didn't remember a single thing past the third tray of shots the previous evening, so she'd have to take Ruby's word that nothing had gone further than she had said. She finished dressing and headed for the door. "I'm going to go clear my head. I'll meet you back at the dorm."

"Um… okay." Ruby said sadly to Weiss's back. "Bye."

Weiss disappeared and the door clicked shut. Ruby stared at where her partner had disappeared for several long minutes before she got up and started dressing. A decision slowly forming in her mind as she came to the realization that her feelings toward Weiss might not have been completely unreciprocated.

She left the room and headed to the office to return the key. Nobody was there so she just dropped it on top of an important looking book behind the desk. She left the office and stopped on the front street as she finalized her decision in her mind.

She'd known for a while already that she had feelings for Weiss that went far beyond friendship, but had always been to afraid to act on them. Now however, Weiss had given her all the reason she needed to pursue her.

 _Even if you try to ignore me, I will prove that you need me and love me just as much as I do. Because even if we were drunk, you made me fall for you all over again just after I finally got over you. This time, I won't give up. This time, I can't afford to._

* * *

Weiss found herself wandering aimlessly through the streets of downtown Vale while her headache slowly disappeared. She'd made a single stop to get a small bottle of medication before continuing on her pointless trek. Eventually, after several hours of wandering, she found herself at the docks. There was nothing especially appealing about them. The boardwalk didn't house any particularly interesting shops, there weren't any ships docked - at least none she'd find interesting, and the wood itself gave off the faint odor of rot even though the material was technically only a few years old. The one thing she did find nice was the salt that so heavily tinted the air, clearing up any congestion she may have had.

Looking around, the place was almost abandoned with only a few people walking past. It was unsurprising since the day was rather cold for spring and there wouldn't be any sign of activity here until the temperature stayed warm for the summer.

So, even though she was starting to wish she'd been wearing a proper jacket and gloves, she leaned up against the railing at the very end of the lone pier to watch the waves from the ocean slowly undulate under the changing currents. It was something she hadn't known she'd liked before she came to attend Beacon Academy due mainly to the fact that she'd never been allowed within a hundred meters from the ocean. She'd lived a safe and sheltered childhood with nobody but herself for company.

Sure nannies came and went, as did butlers, maids, her father's secretaries… and other women she didn't know much about. Of course now she realized that those women were more likely to be escorts than actual employees of Schnee Dust. Her mother had always been there like a picture on the wall. Always there, but never _there_. She'd smile off into the distance, not acknowledging anything happening around her. Weiss had only realized it when she'd accidentally set wood paneling on fire with a poorly measured concoction of burn dust that was only supposed to work as an adhesive. Her mother hadn't even turned her head to the blaze by the time the fire was extinguished. More than half the room had needed renovation.

Weiss sighed, pushing the tiresome memories from her head. That's all they were now. Memories. When she'd chosen to attend Beacon, she had started the final leg of her life. School, marriage, children. It was all planned, all organized in contracts, all unavoidable and constrained to time limits. All planned before she could even walk, by her father. She would graduate the top of her class for no reason other than because that was what was expected of her. She would marry a man whom she was fairly certain was at least twice her age, and have his children via in vitro fertilization just as her mother had done for her. The children would be genetically modified to be the smartest, strongest, and quickest the DNA pool would allow. They would be hers, but in a distorted picture of perfection. Her husband would undoubtedly run the company even though he was only marrying into the family, leaving her to sit at home and watch the tutors and the help care for her kids. And then, simply because she would grow bored from her life of leisure, she would do the one thing that no contract could ever dictate, the only thing women in her family really had to look forward to. She would end her life just as many of the Schnee women before her had. She would follow the unwritten tradition and jump from the Diamond Tower and enjoy a one minute and six second drop to the concrete below where her white funeral gown would soak up the blood leaking from her shattered body.

Again she shook the depressing thoughts from her head and focused once again on the waves in front of her. These waves seemed just as trapped as she was. Doomed to break against the pier over and over and over again as days turn to millennia. The wood would be replaced or removed, but the waves would still keep throwing themselves at the shores as if trying to escape the ocean. But the ocean would always remain, pulling the water back shortly after it lands on shore as if taunting it with a possibility of escape. Even the water that evaporates from the ocean never really escapes. Sooner or later its molecules rejoin the massive rolling depths having had freedom within their grasp just to have it ripped away again.

It was a cycle. Just as the water had its cycle, a female in the Schnee line had hers. Everyone had always told her she would do great things, but when her life was predetermined, how could she possibly do anything at all unless it was written in some contract? Sure she was free at the moment, but time was running out. She had a single semester left before she'd be forced into marriage. She even knew the exact date it was to take place, and she'd known it since she'd first stepped off the airship in her first year.

She smiled slightly remembering how she'd blown up at Ruby for just knocking her luggage over. Sure it was dangerous, but she had taken precautions because she was carrying large amounts of dust through public. Really there had been no reason to get angry. And she wouldn't have been if it hadn't been for the email she'd received announcing her wedding date.

She turned from the water and walked away, no longer feeling calmed by the ocean spray. She started wandering back towards the cliffs atop which Beacon stood like an overseer's fortress. The Gothic curves and color of the aesthetics gave it an ominous look, but the emerald gem in the tallest tower bent the light to shine everywhere at once, making it seem as if the castle was always watching over the city and everything that happened in it.

Weiss supposed it was comforting now that she'd gotten used to it, but she knew its sight was just as blind as any of the walls within White Castle. It would never see one girl walk down the street, laugh with friends, drink after returning from a difficult hunt, or leave to never return. It would never see her struggle, burn her bridges, and graduate with a shining document in front of her enemies.

"Excuse me, Miss Schnee?"

Weiss smiled and stopped for the mother to take a picture with her little girl. Her smile was forced as it always had been before she entered beacon. The girl seemed truly happy to have her picture taken with 'a famous person' even though Weiss doubted she even knew her name. Weiss walked away soon after, exchanging a few polite words before heading down a narrower street that seemed to have an air of danger.

In her time in the city, she'd found out one thing. Danger was everywhere, even in places that were supposed to be safe. That was why she often chose to walk in the shadows, in the darkness so the darkness that sought her wouldn't affect the light others enjoyed. It wasn't the nicest way to live, but it was her choice. A choice she could only make when she wasn't under the scrutiny of her father and the henchmen he called security guards.

Weiss continued on, the streetlights now leaving small circles of light on the street as the sun fell below the buildings and cast heavy shadows everywhere. Weiss walked past a familiar shop that had been robbed multiple times over the few years she'd lived in Vale. From Dust Till Dawn stood exactly where it had the first time she'd seen it with her team, just before Blake accidentally revealed her faunus nature to the rest of them. The ancient owner looked exactly the same as the first time she'd met him when Ruby had told her about how she'd been 'scouted' for early admission to the combat school.

That's right. Ruby. She'd left Ruby sitting in that horribly neglected hotel. A hotel she still had no idea how she'd gotten to. A bed that probably had been thrown out before being salvaged from the dump. A bed where she'd left Ruby sitting, saddened at her rejection of the events of the previous night. The events she could barely even start to remember.

It wasn't the first time she'd been drunk, just the first time she hadn't been alone. Really, it wouldn't have been the first if she had actually cared to drink, but without the rest of her team, she felt she'd be out of place. After all, 'A Schnee drinks, but a Schnee does not get drunk'. The words of her father and the snap of his belt ingrained so deeply into her memory that just remembering it hurt. She had never made the mistake of being discovered in a less than sober state again.

But somehow, when she was with her team lately, she felt as if the rules of carrying her name ceased to exist, replaced by the overwhelming need to live in the moment even if she'd pay for it later. Whether its accepting Yang's shot contest or tackling Ruby off a cliff to distract a Nevermore from the other half of her team, she found herself thinking less and less about the future. Maybe that was a good thing considering how bleak hers looked.

She blinked and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was already back on campus, looking at the statue depicting the heroes of the First Campaign. Their generic features etched in stone that had stood more than a hundred years above a fountain that was equally ancient. Something about them spoke of a struggle won at the cost of almost everything. Maybe that was just the history of the Campaign returning to her memory, but the piece itself seemed to act as a warning of the future awaiting most who leave the security of the school.

She continued past it and toward her dorm room where the rest of her team awaited her return. To their credit, there had only been a single message to her scroll in the whole day. Maybe it was due to Ruby's request, or just because they knew she needed time to herself. In the end, it didn't matter. In the end, they'd come looking for her if she hadn't returned by nine. But in the end, they would just be more people that she would never see again. Because that was her life. Filled with people who came and then left to never return.

She opened the door to the dorm and looked around. Blake was reading as per usual and didn't make any indication that she'd noticed the heiress. Yang was sleeping without snoring, which made it only the second time in known history that she was sleeping quietly. And the bathroom door was closed, meaning Ruby was on the other side of the door doing whatever she needed to.

A clatter sounded from the door along with a muffled swear. Weiss knew almost immediately what was going on without even needing to look through the door. She approached and quietly tapped twice before turning the knob and walking in.

"Need an extra hand?" Weiss asked, making sure the door was firmly shut to keep their voices from waking the explosive member of their team.

"Weiss! I didn't know you were back!" Ruby jumped slightly before turning around, the new bottle of dye unopened in her gloved hand. "And sure, if you're up to it."

"I just returned now." Weiss said, taking the bottle from Ruby and placing it on the counter while she waited for her to take off her gloves.

Ruby simply nodded and passed the gloves over before taking her usual seat on the stool she kept under the sink specifically for when she dyed her hair. Weiss slipped the thin rubber over her hands, noting the slight warmth that they still retained from Ruby's skin. She opened the bottle and poured its contents into the small bowl she'd use to mix it with the dust required for the dye to activate.

"The normal?" She asked, reaching to her hip to take a cartridge of burn dust that would make the dye turn crimson as per Ruby's usual preference.

"Actually, I made a mix earlier." Ruby said, producing one of the large rounds from her sniper without the bullet attached. Weiss realized she must have looked confused because Ruby continued. "I didn't have anything to hold it in, so I just put it in a round."

"I see." Weiss took the round and emptied it into the bowl, mixing the white liquid with the rainbow of dust that had come from the round. Once everything looked evenly mixed, she approached Ruby with the bowl in one hand and a brush and strips of foil in the other. "Do you know how long you have to let this sit?"

"Yeah, I looked it up. It's the same as the red." Ruby answered, turning her head so Weiss could start separating her locks into sections.

"It's not red?" Weiss asked as she started painting the dye on the tips, covering the fading red and a small bit of the brown above it with the white liquid. She folded a piece of foil over the dyed hair and clipped it closed with a clip from the basket that Ruby had placed on the counter when she was mixing the dye.

"No." Ruby replied waiting patiently as Weiss covered strip after strip of her hair with dye and foil. Weiss waited for the girl to continue, but she didn't. After she'd finished enough hair to prompt Ruby to shift her seat so she could continue, Weiss decided that there was probably an important reason she changed her color from red.

After another five minutes of brushing and clipping, Ruby was finished. She looked at herself in the mirror briefly before turning her back to it.

"Do you know what color I'm dying it this time?" Ruby asked, crossing her arms over her chest that was once again only covered with her bra. As usual, Weiss averted her gaze when she answered.

"I have no idea." She answered honestly. "But why are you changing it? I thought your-"

"Mom dyed it red? Yeah." Ruby sighed. "But I think she'd forgive me for changing it."

"But I thought you kept it red because it was important to you." Weiss asked, confused as to why she'd suddenly change what she'd been doing for so many years already.

"Mom was important to me. But she's gone. Even if I wanted her to see my hair…." Ruby trailed off before shaking her head. "She'd understand that there's something more important that I need to remember. Something I'd forgotten a long time ago."

"Oh. What would that be?" Weiss asked as she became interested in Ruby's thoughts. It wasn't often that she thought about big picture concepts, but Weiss could easily tell she was considering one now.

"I'll remember Mom even if my hair isn't red." Ruby replied with a shrug. "What matters is that I'm alive now. Sure I can keep my hair red, but that wont do anything to keep my memories from fading. Instead I wanted to remind myself that I should do everything I can, so I don't have to have another set of memories join those of Mom."

"You've thought a lot about this haven't you?" Weiss asked moving to the shower and taking down the shower-head so she could help rinse the dye out of Ruby's hair.

Ruby knelt down and Weiss started opening the foil and removing it, surprised by the color Ruby'd chosen. She dropped the foil directly into a waste basket and then turned the water on so it was warm but not hot. She carefully rinsed the remaining dye from Ruby's hair, running her gloves through it to make sure the lower layer rinsed properly.

"Mind if I wash up right away?" Ruby asked without waiting for an answer. She poured some of the shampoo into her hand before Weiss had even realized she'd taken her white bottle, not the black one that held Ruby's shampoo. Weiss waited patiently as Ruby rubbed the soap deep into her hair. "Alright, rinse me!"

Weiss moved the shower-head back and forth, using the water's momentum to rinse Ruby's hair. Once it was done, Ruby grabbed an old towel just in case the dye wasn't completely set and dried her hair. Weiss turned off the shower and replaced the head back on its holder.

"I don't think it worked." She informed Ruby looking at the now white tips that looked very out of place on the scythe wielder. Ruby walked back to the mirror to take a look, turning back and forth to see how her hair swayed with the white tips.

"I think it worked alright. It's just a bit different from what I had before." Ruby said while turning back to Weiss. "Thanks for helping me by the way."

"I always help you, remember?" Weiss asked while removing the gloves with a snap and tossing them to the garbage.

"No, I always ask you to help me. This time you offered." Ruby corrected with a grin as she stepped into Weiss's personal bubble.

"R-Ruby!" Weiss stuttered in surprise when she backed up into the counter.

"It's okay Weiss. I get it." Ruby whispered with a slight roll of her eyes. "But I have to thank you somehow. And I also want to test a theory of mine."

"Wha-?" Weiss was unable to finish her question as Ruby's lips met hers, her tongue immediately entwining with Weiss's as her surprise kept her frozen in shock.

 _This can't be… happening._ Weiss thought noticing that she was having more difficulty than normal piecing her thoughts together. _This is so wrong…. My father would…. And then…._

Weiss's mind went blank, there was absolutely nothing wrong, her father wasn't there, nothing would come of it, she just had to relax and enjoy the amazing sensation of her lips gently pressed to Ruby's, her tongue slowly dancing with Ruby's….

 _With Ruby's…?_ Weiss's hands had found Ruby's shoulders and she pushed, sending Ruby stumbling back towards the tub.

* * *

"Weiss!" Ruby started but Weiss was already opening the door. She was out of the dorm seconds later without a single word to anyone. Ruby felt as if she'd been slapped. But when she walked back to the sink and looked in the mirror, she remembered her promise. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but maybe she'd need to approach the issue differently.

 _But I learned one thing out of this. She must like me too or she wouldn't have kissed me back the way she did._ Ruby exhaled a shaky breath and grinned at the mirror. _She's an amazingly good kisser._


	3. Overture III

Sunday dawned bright and cold, the winter winds returning for their last breath, bringing with them dark clouds filled with snow. The brightness of the day left shortly after the morning church services in Vale started, the bells of the churches chiming faintly in the distance.

At Beacon, most students were sleeping in or relaxing in their rooms. Few of them routinely attended the morning services down in Vale, and parts of the campus were often completely devoid of life. One of these spots was the emerald forest.

Weiss walked calmly down the overgrown path that had been forgotten by all but the few students that, like herself, found solace in training against the real monsters rather than the hopelessly simple robots that the school used in its sparring gyms.

She'd been out for three hours and twenty minutes and had yet to run into her first opponent. Whether it was simple misfortune or luck depended greatly on which Grimm her opponent would be and whether or not she'd be able to handle it alone.

She heard the rustling of a nearby bush and quickly placed her hand on the hilt of her rapier, ready to draw it should a Grimm come out. She internally scolded herself for being so jumpy as a small squirrel darted out and ran up a nearby tree. She continued on while keeping alert to any sound that would travel in the forest.

Weiss knew that the area was infamous for the amount of sound the ground and trees absorbed, making it a perfect training ground. She would unlikely hear anything outside of a five meter radius, meaning she would have to rely on her sight and intuition.

That was the reason why the forest was off limits to all but the most competent of warriors. The threat of death in the forest was higher than any other place a student of the academy would ever go while in attendance. But that was exactly why Weiss had qualified within the first week of her training. She may not have been the best, but she knew anything that happened under the shade of the canopy would simply alter her life's course. In the end, the destination was the same. She would only be able to skip several irksome steps along the way.

But not once so far had her reflexes failed her. She had once come back from her solo hunt with her dominant arm broken in eight places and her right leg broken in two. She'd had a hairline fracture to her scalp and was in danger of contracting an infection from an open wound on her hip. But she'd killed six death stalkers and a small pack of beowolves before she'd dragged herself back to the infirmary.

Ruby had been furious when she'd found out. And her anger had been escalated due to the fact she too had been cleared to enter the forest on her own. In fact, her whole team had clearance within the first month of their education. But not once had she ever seen any of the others go hunting alone.

Maybe it was the group mentality that came from transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Or maybe it was just who they were. Blake and Yang went after classes, seemingly on a whim, while Ruby seemed to never set a foot past the tree line. Weiss had no need for her teammates, though. She was confident she could handle herself, and if she couldn't… her life was an affordable price for her overconfidence.

She sensed movement in the shadows to her left and froze, turning to survey the darkness. Nothing moved, the bushes barely rustling in the breeze that managed to penetrate through the thick growth. Weiss sensed whatever had been moving had left and continued on the overgrown path. This was her first time walking down that specific path since she often found herself wanting to take the clearer, more traveled path through the center of the Grimm infested forest. This smaller, less traveled path curved back and forth through the forest, coming closer to where the Grimm nests were most likely located. The fact that she had not yet found a single one of them was eerie to say the least.

It was odd for Grimm to ignore isolated prey, especially when they were dressed in bright clothing as she was. Something else must be attracting their attention. Just as the thought occurred to her, Weiss came to a fork she hadn't noticed on the old maps of the forest. Curious to its route, she decided to see where it went.

The path was almost invisible at points with only a few broken twigs here and there to mark the way it curved over the ground. After going several feet, Weiss realized that the path she was following wasn't a part of a trail. It was the path taken by migrating Grimm. She picked up her pace, careful to keep an eye on the ground she covered just in case a pack came up behind her.

She froze again as a slight breeze ruffled the leaves on the plants around her. She listened to any noise that the breeze could have masked, hearing nothing. Yet something inside her told her to remain still. As she did so, an extremely faint growl reached her ears, pushed on by the barely moving air. She turned and started in the direction she thought the noises came from.

After a couple of minutes, the growls were loud enough for Weiss to tell that the Grimm behind them meant business. The odd thing was that there seemed to be another sound underneath the growls that she couldn't identify.

She came out of the foliage to a wide open clearing, the dark clouds above making it seem just barely lighter than when she was beneath the trees. On the far side of the sea of grasses, a lone huntress, barely visible through the surrounding mob of Grimm, danced to music playing from her scroll. Her signature weapon looped around in wide arcs, cutting down those who dared get too close. It was Ruby.

Weiss watched curiously as her partner danced slowly to a duet of a piano and electric guitar. The hymn was equally haunting as the image before Weiss. Ruby, with her red cloak pulled far over her face to just above her eyes, seemed completely oblivious to everything happening around her. She danced back and forth, swinging her weapon and discharging the propulsive shots in time with the music. The entire time, her eyes remained closed as if she could sense the creatures movements with her other senses.

Weiss froze as she watched, not able to tear her eyes away as Ruby made the fight look effortless. The wide, slow sweeps that were just quick enough to keep the monsters around her at bay, and random enough to keep them apprehensive. Her timed shots taking down random Grimm that happened to be in the way when she pulled the trigger. Ruby's cape fluttered around her ankles as her skirt twirled back and forth with her rotation while she danced to the music wafting off her wrist mounted scroll.

The mob of hostile creatures took no notice to the girl clad in white as she stood stunned at the edge of the clearing, instead focusing on the red cape that danced back and forth majestically in the dark light of the day.

Weiss heard a slight hiccup in the music that snapped her out of her thoughts as she realized it was on repeat. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd come hoping to hunt, and Ruby had all the attention. She didn't want to go farther in the forest, but she didn't see a way around it. After all, it was rude to steal another's prey and Ruby seemed to be off in her own world. The last thing she wanted was to distract her when she was surrounded by Grimm.

But whether it was fate that had Weiss hesitate, or just Ruby's luck that seemed to match her sister's, Weiss had only started to turn away when a Beowolf lunged into Ruby's attack Radius, slashing at her arm as the scythe spun through its body.

The music stopped and Weiss heard a quiet swear beneath the continued growls followed by the thump of the creature's corpse landing on the ground. The other wolves seemed inspired by their comrade and the volume of their growls increased as several more lunged at Ruby just to meet the same end, leaving scratches down Ruby's leading arm and shoulder.

Weiss watched in indecision as another Beowolf landed the first solid hit on her back, making her cry out as crimson splattered the snow filled ground beneath her. Ruby dodged another attack, but there were still far too many Grimm surrounding her for Weiss to clearly see her condition. She glanced down at her scroll to see Ruby's aura already rapidly draining past the half-way mark and taking on a tint of orange that grew more red every time the bar jumped lower.

Weiss loaded her ice dust, and took a hesitant step towards the mass of combatants, hoping she wouldn't intrude on Ruby in case she had expected this outcome and come prepared for it. She watched her scroll, Ruby's aura now depleting to a bright red as it started to drain the last ten percent of the meter.

Weiss looked up to find that even though the crowd had grown thinner, it was still more than half the number it started as. She stopped thinking and jumped to action, happy that she'd stumbled across her partner in time.

"Ruby! Atlas Firestorm!" She yelled, hoping Ruby would hear her warning. She ran to the edge of the mass of monsters and slammed her rapier down into the ground while pulling the trigger. A massive wave of ice rose from the ground, encasing everything in its path in solid ice, a ball of red rolling out of the left side of the mob just as the ice passed by told Weiss she was clear for her follow up attack.

She jumped in the air and off her glyphs criss crossing over the angry Grimm while letting black propulsion dust rain down. When her cartridge was empty, she landed just out of range of the creatures and changed to her red dust.

She let loose a single fireball that landed perfectly on the nearest Beowolf, incinerating a hole through its chest and setting the creatures fur ablaze. As it fell back, it caught the black dust that had barely settled on the ice and the whole pack was suddenly wailing as fur melted and organs boiled. The massive fire's roaring competed with the creatures cries of pain until the crackling and sizzling pops of bones cracking was all that could be heard beneath the whoosh of air fueling the flame while the black smoke of the dead Grimm gave the orange flames an eerie backdrop. Seconds later, that too died as the flame extinguished, leaving charred remains encased in ice, slowly smoking as the tops were exposed to oxygen.

Weiss looked across the left side of the smoking field where Ruby was laying on her back. Her right arm rested over her eyes as her chest rose and fell in a calm manner. Her scythe was folded up and rested against her leg as blood slowly oozed out of a cut on her inner thigh. Weiss walked over and found Ruby was in far worse shape than she'd thought, with her clothes almost shredded between her neck and her knees. Below the torn fabric, red marks that varied in deepness and angle seemed to shimmer with her blood as it pooled into the open wounds as Ruby's aura slowly did its job at stitching her back together.

"Sorry I took your kills." Weiss apologized as she knelt at Ruby's side to wait with her until she could move again. "Is anything broken?"

At first Ruby didn't answer, making Weiss start to worry until Ruby took a deeper breath than normal.

"I think I might have broken my left arm. Otherwise I'll be fine." Ruby stated simply, raising the fingers of her broken arm off her stomach in the tiniest of waves.

"Alright." Weiss responded. Really, there was nothing to say. The scratches, while looking bad to begin with, were looking better every second as the hooded girl's aura stitched new skin over the openings. There would be a couple new scars from the larger wounds, but Weiss knew that everyone on her team had an ever growing collection of them that would never match the ones she bore beneath her white outfit.

Ten minutes passed in the silent forest, with nothing but the subtle breeze rustling the surrounding bushes every few minutes. Weiss's thoughts idled randomly through her schoolwork she had left to do before class the next day. She mentally completed the checklist and just watched Ruby as she recovered. Her eyes drifted from the exhausted neutral expression on her face to the nearly shredded fabric of her combat outfit. Mostly, the outfit was shredded along her stomach and shoulders, but a single large chunk of fabric hung loose to reveal Ruby's black lace bra cut just to the right of center. The fabric still covered her chest, but would undoubtedly fall loose if she moved from her horizontal position.

Weiss felt her neck and ears heat up as she turned her gaze away. She chastised herself for her wandering eyes and waited patiently until she felt her body heat return to normal.

Ruby suddenly sat up and gasped as she hunched forward, causing Weiss's head to spin towards her teammate. Weiss's neck once again caught fire as she didn't avoid catching sight of Ruby's chest, now hanging free with the shredded fabric acting as a very poor visual shield.

"Shit! I think I broke my shin too!" She exclaimed as she used her good arm to feel her leg. She winced in pain before lowering herself back to the ground. "Damn it!"

Weiss was used to the cursing from Yang, but found it oddly distasteful coming from her leader. She reached out carefully and patted Ruby on the shoulder.

"I think you're done for today." She said while purposely looking anywhere other than at Ruby.

"Yeah… I guess I couldn't ask you to help me back to the dorm, huh?" Ruby asked, leaning up on her good elbow so she could look at Weiss.

Weiss avoided Ruby's gaze for several long seconds before breaking down and looking over at her. Her large silver eyes glimmered in the dim light, but not as if she was pulling any type of puppy dog face. Weiss knew this was one of the few times Ruby was asking for something with the clear intent to let her decide. A quick downward glance didn't help Weiss's reasoning and she turned her head away.

"I… suppose I could stop my hunting for today. I'll need to refill my dust anyway." She lied. In reality, she still had enough to keep going but she couldn't leave Ruby to fend for herself. "Just on one condition."

"Anything!" Ruby replied immediately. She was already smiling that Weiss had accepted her request so readily.

"Cover yourself up." Weiss spoke quietly, making Ruby look down at her exposed breasts.

"Ahh!" Ruby's startled yelp brought a small grin to Weiss's lips as Ruby pulled some tape from her belt and combined a few pieces of fabric back together so she had at least some temporary coverage. After she was done, Weiss helped her to her feet and helped wrap an arm over her shoulders.

Ruby grunted in pain every few steps as she gingerly let her weight fall on her leg and Weiss. She clutched the other arm stiffly to her stomach, making sure her shoddy tape work remained intact as the duo made their way slowly out of the forest.

When they'd made it a kilometer, Ruby broke their comfortable silence with a question.

"Am I attractive?" She asked. Her voice was laced with uncertainty as she limped on with Weiss's help. When Weiss turned her head, she saw Ruby looking down, her white tips hiding her face from view.

"Why would you ask me?" Weiss answered vaguely. "Your sister tells you all the time."

"But Yang's my big sister. Her opinion is biased." Ruby responded simply. Weiss almost laughed from her response. "What do you think?"

Weiss thought for a while about how to answer Ruby. On one hand, she didn't want to say yes because Ruby might take it the wrong way considering the past couple of days. On the other, she didn't have the will to lie and tell her she wasn't.

"I believe the saying is 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'" Weiss answered after an old saying popped into her head.

"Then I know what Yang thinks. I still want to know what you think." Ruby replied quickly. Again Weiss paused, not knowing how to reply.

"I suppose you are not unattractive." Weiss responded, hoping to get away with a neutral-positive answer.

"Hmm…" Ruby hummed as she digested Weiss's words. "So you don't find me attractive? Not even a little?"

"I didn't say that, Ruby." Weiss replied patiently.

"You may as well have. You said I'm not ugly." Ruby argued back. "That's basically saying you're not ugly, but you're not pretty. Or hot. Just plain."

"What's wrong with plain?" Weiss asked somewhat indignantly. "I know I'm not attractive-"

"Ha, good one." Ruby cut Weiss off as she laughed dully between her labored breathing. When Weiss didn't respond, Ruby looked over at her. Weiss's eyes were looking into hers sharply as if they could cut into her. "Wait, you actually believe that, don't you?"

When Weiss didn't respond, Ruby gasped.

"You do! Wow!" Ruby mused in amazement. "You are so wrong I can't even begin to tell you."

"Please…" Weiss tried dismissing Ruby's statement, yet a small feeling inside her knew what came next.

"You know how guys rate girls on a scale of one to ten? You're like a six-" Ruby started only to be interrupted by Weiss.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" She replied sarcastically, having heard Ruby's rating of her.

"You didn't let me finish." Ruby replied quietly after a moment of hesitation. "I'd give you a sixteen."

"Out of what? Twenty?" Weiss asked sceptically.

"No, out of ten." Ruby replied honestly.

Weiss paused for the briefest of seconds before continuing to help Ruby walk. Not once in her memorable life had she been told she was attractive. Sure the camera apparently loved her, but it seemed that was the only sentiment even her photographers had to share with her. And for Ruby to give her a rating that far above the maximum…

"What would you give me?" Ruby asked curiously, breaking through Weiss's thoughts.

"I'm not placing you on a scale, Ruby." Weiss replied indignantly, terrified of what Ruby would think about any number she could give.

"Please?" Ruby pouted with her puppy dog eyes full force. Weiss made the mistake of not looking away quick enough and sighed.

"Fine. I'd give you a ten." Weiss answered, hoping Ruby would be fine with the non-extraneous number.

"Only ten?" She asked while seeming to press herself tighter to Weiss's side.

"The scale is out of ten, Ruby." Weiss replied with a sigh. "I guess I could also add that your cuteness goes up a hundred points when you do your puppy dog eyes."

"Alright! A hundred and ten!" Ruby cheered. She leaned over and placed a small peck on Weiss's cheek.

Weiss felt her cheeks flush as she hung her head and sighed. This seemed like it was going to be a very long week.


	4. Dead History I

"So… how exactly did we get stuck with this job again?" Weiss asked as she and Ruby walked through the remains of a small town on the northern edge of Vale.

"Well, we were late to class-" Ruby started.

"Because you slept in." Weiss interjected.

"And… you got the same mark as Blake on the test that was handed back yesterday." Ruby said with a glance at her teammate.

"And I would have gotten a better mark if _someone_ didn't decide to accept two missions in a row on either side of the test." Ruby blushed a little but shrugged the comment off.

"Also scissors cuts paper." She finished as if that justified their current situation.

"Do you ever consider that this is why I wanted to be team leader back in the first year?" Weiss asked. "So things like this wouldn't happen?"

"So you're saying that if I didn't have all this responsibility to look after a team and had more free time on my hands that I'd be easier to deal with?" Ruby asked innocently.

Weiss opened her mouth to answer but knew Ruby had a valid point. Already, it was difficult to wake her up in time for class. Add the fact that it wouldn't be her reputation on the line if she came late, and Weiss could imagine a very, very difficult existence.

"You win." Weiss said, dismissing the topic of conversation. "Let's just get this finished and get back to Beacon."

"You read my mind." Ruby smiled and gave her teammate a half-hug.

The two went from building to destroyed building, looking for anything useful and making note of any potential for Grimm nests. It was a routine patrol to ensure there were no incentives for Grimm to create their homes so close to the Vale walls. Ruby and Weiss had been on at least a hundred trips to various points of the Vale perimeter during their time at Beacon, and they never had any difficulty. Weiss thought back and corrected herself. They'd never had difficulty with anything to do with the actual mission. Ruby had forgotten their rations on one occasion, meaning they were both starving by the time they got back to the school.

Weiss found a building that seemed mostly intact and inspected the structure. It seemed to have been a small convenience store before the town had been obliterated. But the wood supports, though covered with mold, held strong.

"Got one demo over here. Could be a siren." Weiss called back to Ruby before continuing on. There were only a hundred yards left to the street before the massive forest rose out of the ground creating a wall of damp green growth.

"My side's clear. We'll do that last if there's nothing else." Ruby called in response, somewhere over a wall that separated the town's two blocks from each other.

Weiss continued, finding little of value. Old mass produced school books, scrolls that were long since broken from Grimm attacking or just the elements weathering the wreckage she couldn't tell, and overturned vehicles with spots of black still dotting the broken glass where the blood of the victims within had sprayed. Weiss came up to what had been the last building in the block. Nothing remained of the structure but a pile of rock no taller than Weiss's waist. Strewn around the rubble were random shreds of fabric that seemed no more out of place than the town itself.

Weiss looked over the wreckage for a few moments as she tried to identify anything that wasn't broken or destroyed. A small corner of wood caught her attention near the middle of the pile. At first glance it was no different than the other splinters of wood scattered around the pile. But that one piece was different. It wasn't broken as the others were. Instead it was straight and turned down into the pile at a perfect ninety degrees.

Weiss summoned a pair of small glyphs and used them under her feet as she walked over the rubble to keep her balance. She reached the piece of wood to find it was varnished with something that was obviously weather resistant. An ever so slight sheen was visible from the much closer vantage point and Weiss carefully started removing the rock that covered the box.

It was approximately the size of Ruby's folded scythe minus an inch or two in length, making Weiss wonder just what had had the privilege of being contained in such a container.

She opened it to find a small assortment of things. A pair of silver rings, a photo of a family of four, a small stuffed animal, and identification cards for those in the photo. Along with these small items, an ancient looking revolver stood out ominously from the others. It seemed almost alive as the gold inlay glistened in the dying light of the wintry sun. Even the cold of the day seemed to bring it into a sharper focus as if it was staring at the person who disturbed its slumber with an intent to kill. To make matters worse, the contents of the entire box appeared to be flecked and stained with what had once been blood.

Weiss closed the box tightly and looked around. The sun had just been covered with a thick cloud and the entire area sent a shiver down Weiss's spine that had nothing to do with the chilly weather.

"Ruby? I'm done!" She called into the silence, wincing as the wood of the box brought back the ill feelings from the weapon within.

"Kay! I found something awesome!" Ruby called back before a slight whoosh announced her departure down the street. Weiss waited a few seconds and Ruby stopped in front of her holding a utensil. Weiss lost her train of thought for a moment as she took in Ruby's triumphant smile and the proudly presented the piece of stainless steel.

"I don't get it." Weiss said, looking from the metal scrap to Ruby and back again.

"It's the most rare thing we could ever find!" Ruby announced with glee. "It's not just a spoon, but it's not a fork either! We've found the legendary spork!"

Weiss still couldn't quite wrap her head around Ruby's reason for picking up the piece of garbage. "You do realize we can get one of those at literally any kitchenware store in Remnant, right?"

"You're no fun." Ruby pouted then she noticed the wooden box in Weiss's arms. "What did you find?"

"See for yourself." Weiss answered holding the box so Ruby could open the lid.

Ruby's eyes went wide and then narrowed sadly as she took in the contents. After a moment, she pulled out her scroll and took a picture of the contents. She closed the lid of the box, giving Weiss a nod before returning to her scroll. She spent several minutes waiting as was normal while Weiss placed the box inside the standing store and poured burn dust on it. Ruby came in and stood beside her, holding out her scroll for her to see.

"He was listed missing in action." Ruby said. "He had a wife and two kids, also missing."

"There's nothing we can do now." Weiss said. Even though she'd gotten used to those words as she'd completed these patrols with Ruby, it still didn't make saying them easier. It didn't hide the hollowness and reality of the sentiment from her voice.

"From ashes to ashes." Ruby spoke quietly and chambered a round in her weapon. She aimed it at the box before them, waiting on Weiss.

"Dust to dust." Weiss recited, pulling the trigger on her rapier as Ruby fired the round from her rifle.

The box evaporated seconds later, leaving no evidence of it ever having existed. The two shared a moment of silence before exchanging a glance.

"Let's get this place down." Ruby turned to one corner, pulling her backpack off. From it she pulled out a dust charge large enough to level the entire small building. "We'll only need this, so I doubt we'll get company afterwards."

"Alright. I'll be outside." Weiss replied, leaving the way she'd come.

She walked back up the street, away from the rubble where she'd found the hunter's weapon. She knew it would take Ruby a few minutes to set the charge and there was nothing to do except keep watch for potentially wandering Grimm.

She sat down on a partially broken stone bench and looked out across the wasteland of a town. It was no wonder that both Ruby and her hated these missions. The ground was dead, and though the smell of death had gone, the very atmosphere seemed to cry in anguish at the horrors that had taken place there.

As with every mission, Weiss had read the entire dossier. Three hundred people had lived here no more than two years ago. Officially, all three hundred are listed by Vale authorities as missing. The truth was much darker. It always seemed to be. The only proof they'd found in the homes and shops was that single hunter's weapon. Without proof, there could be no changing those listed as missing, but it was an unspoken rule that nobody ever looked for them. There would never be anything to find save something among their possessions that proved they had never left the buildings that turned to their graves.

But more than the atmosphere, Weiss hated how Ruby seemed to be in a constant state of depression while on the missions. She was nothing but business, when on a normal mission she would joke around, however slightly. Weiss had told her that once, hoping to just acknowledge the tendency and move forward. But ever since then, Ruby tended to force herself to joke. And Weiss hated to admit it, Ruby's recent flirtations seemed to have been growing on her as she felt slightly forlorn each time Ruby would speak to her briefly and then continue on with the mission without so much as a second glance.

On one hand, it made things much easier to concentrate. But on the other, Ruby had become her best friend over the past few years and it hurt her to see her bottling up her emotions and putting on a mask just to avoid Weiss's concerned looks. All that did was make Weiss lose her concentration because she was worried about what would happen when the dam Ruby had created within herself would eventually break. Weiss knew it would since she herself had a feeling she could last little longer if she kept blocking others out.

"It's done." Ruby announced, standing in front of Weiss. A large thump sounded and a massive cloud of dirt exploded into the air from the street behind Ruby. "Let's go home."

Weiss watched for a moment as she walked away, not once looking back at the cloud of dirt that hung in the sky like a fog as it slowly settled back to the ground. Weiss couldn't help but feel that some part of Ruby had changed. It scared her to think that the joyful young girl that was the leader of her team may have been lost to the calculating huntress that had seen far too much sorrow to truly smile again.

"Wait up." Weiss called out, realizing she'd been sinking back into her thoughts as Ruby walked away. She pushed the thoughts out of her head and rejoined her leader as they traveled back through the skeleton town.

* * *

"We should set up camp for the night. It's getting dark and we're still about fifty miles from the wall." Ruby announced, breaking the long lasting silence that had stretched the past four hours. The sun had long since disappeared and they'd been traveling by the gray-scale landscape of the shadows cast by the sparsely populated forest. Between Ruby and Weiss, they'd killed at least a den of beowolves apiece while they'd been traveling. But not once did either one of them say a word to address the events that had occurred back in the town.

"I'll set the tent." Weiss replied, pulling a small foldable tent out of her backpack and untying the string that kept it bound.

She took metal spikes from the backpack and pinned the four corners into the ground and sighed, looking up to find Ruby resting on a low tree branch with her weapon in it's fully extended rifle form.

"I've got first watch. You get some rest." Weiss said, leaving no room for argument in her voice while she pointed to the tent.

Ruby stared at her for a moment before closing her eyes with a sigh and nodding. She replaced her weapon at her belt as she hopped down and walked past the heiress.

"Thanks. Wake me up when you get tired." She said as she entered the tent. She left the flap open as was routine since the last thing she wanted was to deal with a zipper when she might have to get out quickly.

Weiss sat down against the corner of the tent, closing her eyes and instead listening to the sounds around her as she kept her mind from wandering away from the task at hand.

The gentle breeze made barely any noise as it rustled the large pine trees around them, the snow long since blown from their branches. She listened for any noise like the crunch of snow or the breaking of a stick that would alert her to any intruders. Even the slight hissing of the odd snake wasn't able to avoid her detection as Weiss continued listening and mapping the sounds and their trajectories.

She didn't know how long she'd been listening for when she heard movement from the tent. She ignored it until She heard Ruby pull back the flap and sit down beside her.

"How's it going?" Ruby asked. Weiss knew her answer didn't matter. Ruby knew if something was up, Weiss would have woken her.

"All quiet." She replied anyway, hoping to maybe talk to Ruby about her behavior earlier that day.

"That's good." Ruby fell silent and after a while leaned up against Weiss's shoulder. "Do you mind? I couldn't get comfortable in there."

"I guess not." Weiss replied, somewhat happy to have Ruby at least partially returning to normal.

"You're so warm." Ruby mumbled as she drifted to sleep.

Weiss didn't respond, knowing she'd have more than enough time to talk to her teammate on the trek back to the wall. She closed her eyes, returning to her auditory watch, now ignoring the sound of Ruby's steady breaths and ever so slight snoring.

* * *

When Weiss's eyes were starting to get heavy, she nudged Ruby gently. Ruby's eyes snapped open and did a quick survey of the surrounding forest before she realized why she'd been woken.

"Okay, my watch." Ruby said while stretching. She went to get up but Weiss placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Just stay here, okay?" Weiss asked sleepily, not in the mood to move from her spot.

Ruby nodded and Weiss switched positions, leaning against Ruby as she closed her eyes. Ruby wrapped an arm around Weiss and she felt herself drifting to sleep.

But right when she thought she'd be entering dreamland, she wasn't. She actually felt more awake than she had for the last three hours, and she had barely closed her eyes. Ruby seemed to think she was either sleeping or falling asleep, so she was gently rubbing her hand up and down her arm in a way that made Weiss feel worse than ever for turning Ruby's advances down time and time again over the past few days.

"Ruby?" She asked quietly, hoping to keep the quiet atmosphere so she might actually fall asleep eventually.

"It's fine, Weiss. I've got it. Go back to sleep." Ruby said soothingly as she stopped her rubbing.

Weiss waited for a while, hoping the now still contact from Ruby would help her give in to her fatigue. It didn't.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did, but I'll answer another on the house." Ruby joked playfully. Weiss could imagine the smile spreading across her face.

"Why do you always get so… sullen when we go on these missions?" Weiss always knew there was something behind the excuses Ruby used, and was hoping that she might be in a sharing mood.

"It's… a long story…" Ruby replied before turning the tables. "What about you? Today you seemed sort of… I don't know… out of it, I guess."

"If I tell you, will you tell me that story?" Weiss asked in response. She'd bargained for Ruby to make some sort of trade for the information that Weiss would normally refuse. But this time Weiss knew that whatever Ruby had to say was much more important than keeping her concern for her leader hidden. Sure, it might lead to Ruby flirting even more, but she could deal with that. She knew how to deal with that. What she didn't know how deal with was Ruby's grim attitude during these missions. And it wasn't getting any better as time went on.

"Sure. Why not?" Ruby asked while taking a deep breath. The two fell to silence for a while before Weiss started answering Ruby's question.

"I was thinking about some stuff." Weiss started. Ruby remained silent to allow her to take her time voicing her thoughts. "You know, the last few days have been somewhat difficult for me to adjust to. At first it felt like I'd taken someone else's life. I've never really been a drinker, but I took Yang up on her challenge. I've never once been in a position where I would willingly pay for a room to spend a night with someone. I've never really even thought of offering to help anyone do anything at all. Yet not only did I beat Yang at her own game, pay for the room we spent that night in, and offer to help you dye your hair, here I am spouting all this to you because you were seriously worrying me earlier."

Ruby seemed to be holding her breath as she listened, afraid to miss even a single word. Weiss kept her eyes closed, afraid of what expression she might see on Ruby's face when she opened her eyes.

"I could tell you were forcing the joke about the spork earlier. I've spent more than enough time with you to know the difference between when you're joking because you want to and because you feel you need to." Weiss continued. "On top of that, you used to love how the dirt flew into the air from any explosion. You didn't even glance back today. I could count on one hand how many times you've flirted with me today, and that has all been within the past few hours. I don't want you to force yourself to do anything for my benefit. I don't need you to. I just…"

Weiss trailed off, not knowing how to finish explaining her sentiments. She opened her eyes and turned to look Ruby in the eyes. Her silver orbs were saddened but seemed to dance with a life that suggested she wasn't ready to reveal the source of her pain. Weiss leaned her head back down onto Ruby's shoulder.

"I'm just afraid, Ruby." Weiss admitted. "I'm afraid of what this job is doing to you. I care about you, Ruby. I just want you to be happy. I don't want this job to turn you into a machine. I've seen something similar happen to almost everyone in my family. Even I was almost at that point by the time I started at Beacon. I still am, for whatever that's worth. But at least I know my story. It has an ending. Yours doesn't. And I just want you to depend on us. If not the whole team, then depend on me. I'm your partner."

Weiss didn't know what else to say. She'd sort of started on a tangent part way through and hadn't realized it till she finished, but at the same time, she felt a small weight lift from her shoulders now that she'd confided her problem to Ruby. The two remained silent for what felt like hours before Ruby finally replied.

"I don't understand you, Weiss." She said. "You tell me you want me to be happy, yet every time I flirt with you or ask you out on a date, you tell me no. You say you want me to be happy but you didn't even realize I was in love with you until that night at the bar. And at that point I'd already given up on you. Please just… explain to me why we can't both be happy together?"

"I…" Weiss felt like she'd been shot in the gut. Her voice was nothing more but a whisper as she answered. "It's as I've said. I know my story. It's all written in various contracts. They've all been signed and dated. I'll fulfill my duties and then I'll do the one thing that nobody can dictate for me…. On the other hand, you're free. You can do whatever you want and nobody will say anything about it. You don't know what will happen after we graduate. You just hope that you'll get work as a huntress. You'll go on hunts and meet people all over Remnant. You'll save towns from Grimm attacks, foil terrorist plots, and help the police arrest criminals. You'll fall in love and get married, a couple of cute little kids will be running around your house and you'll have a happily ever after, but you won't know when that story ends or how it goes along the way. You're free, Ruby. I'm not. I don't get to choose what would make me happy. I get to choose what would help the business more. I'm just a tool to serve the Schnee line. That's it."

Weiss once again fell silent, forcing her surfacing emotions deeper within her. A Schnee never cries, never lets a single tear be shed for anything but a camera during an 'emotional event'. Ruby's hand started rubbing again, comforting her more than she realized.

"You're not some tool, Weiss." Ruby whispered into her hair. "You are as unique as a snowflake. All you need is a little help to stand out. Would you give me access to the Schnee business database when we get back?"

Weiss nodded without question. She was exhausted at this point from venting her feelings for the first time in as long as she could remember. She felt sleep pull at her and she sunk deeper into Ruby's shoulder as she let herself drift into the empty blackness that called to her.

* * *

Weiss slowly awoke from Ruby's chest, sitting up and looking at the sky. It was already at least an hour past sunrise and Ruby was sleeping calmly while leaning up against the tent. Weiss listened briefly to find nothing out of the ordinary. They seemed to be very lucky that a Grimm hadn't happened across them while they were both asleep.

"Ruby, time to get going." Weiss said, shaking her awake. Ruby jumped up and dusted herself off as she realized she'd fallen asleep while it was her watch.

"Sorry, I didn't even realize I fell asleep." Ruby said as she helped fold the tent back into a square to tie it, and replaced it in Weiss's backpack.

"It's fine. There don't seem to be many Grimm here anyway." Weiss stated, giving the scenery a quick scan. "So…"

"So…" Ruby echoed. Both were obviously remembering the conversation of the previous night. "Want to get going?"

"Not so fast." Weiss placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You said you'd tell me your story if I told you why I was out of it yesterday."

"I did didn't I?" Ruby rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Weiss sighed, knowing that Ruby really hadn't expected her to accept the deal in the first place.

"It's fine if you'd rather not tell me." Weiss said. She knew Ruby would tell her if it was something important, but at the same time wasn't quite confident that she'd share truthfully if it was a deeply personal matter.

"No… it's okay…. I just…" Ruby searched for the right words. "This isn't the right place."

Ruby pulled out her scroll and looked at the map of their current position in relation to the wall. She seemed to tense as she found what she was looking for and let out a long breath.

"Actually we're about sixty miles from… the place where…." She trailed off as she closed her scroll and replaced it at her waist. "If it's okay with you, mind if we take a detour?"

Weiss couldn't believe that Ruby was actually willing to open up when she'd played off the question and similar ones from all of their friends over the past few years and only now seemed to be willing to share. Weiss figured Ruby's serious manner of asking the question showed just how much this meant to her. Weiss felt a mixed sense of privilege and unease at being the first one outside Ruby's family to get a glimpse at her secret. Nevertheless, she nodded, her mind set at being there for Ruby just as she'd been there for her the previous night.

"Then lets go. We'll be cutting it close getting back to the wall before nightfall." Ruby said as she turned and lead Weiss perpendicular to their previous path. "And whatever you do, ignore the shadows until I give the order. Otherwise getting back to the wall will be the least of our worries."


	5. Dead History II

True to Ruby's word, the farther they walked, the more the trees took on an ominous shadow as if the light never truly reached their bark. After a while, Weiss felt as if eyes were staring into her back. She was about to turn when Ruby's voice rang loud and clear in front of her.

"Eyes front. Ignore the feeling you're being watched." Ruby ordered, her voice as hard and unforgiving as the environment they ventured through.

Weiss pushed the impulse out of her head, but still felt uneasy as the feeling of being watched seemed to multiply with every step until her brain was almost screaming for her to turn and look. The shadows had spread to almost every tree Weiss could see from her cone of vision, even her peripheral vision gave her the feeling that the shadows were moving, jumping from tree to tree. She endured three miles of the horrible feeling, her intuition telling her to both listen to Ruby's orders and run at the same time.

At last, Ruby walked out into a clearing, leaving the trees behind, and the shadows with them. Weiss sighed in relief as the feeling of danger eased from her mind.

"Eyes front. Don't turn until we get to the cliff." She instructed as she kept her pace steady. Weiss listened as she felt a new sensation pricking at her mind that was very different, yet somewhat similar to the one they'd just left behind.

Weiss continued to follow Ruby's measured strides through another small span of trees until the ground gave way from dirt to stone where the trees couldn't hope to grow. Ruby turned and smiled at her teammate, a smile that was more relief than joy.

"I hate that area. But there was no way around it from the direction we were coming from." Ruby explained with a shrug. "It wasn't always like that though."

Weiss nodded, having the feeling that Ruby was saying more than what the words actually meant. They continued traveling across the stone ground for a while as they followed the edge that turned out to be at the top of a three or four mile drop into more forest.

"On the way back, we won't have to go through there. So you don't have to worry about that." Ruby said as she led Weiss across the cliff. The rock slowly curved, letting them see only a small area of the path in front of them.

"I know it's easier to walk here, but wouldn't we be safer in the edge of the forest?" Weiss asked. "You know, away from the edge of the cliff?"

"Normally, but the grimm around here are odd. You might see what I mean later." Ruby answered cryptically.

They continued on in silence for a while before Weiss identified their goal. A small rock in the distance came into view as the cliff straightened out. Even from that far, Weiss could tell that it was handmade. The angles on it were far too sharp and straight to be natural.

When they finally reached it, Ruby knelt down in front of it and brushed what little snow remained off its surface.

"Hi Mom. It's been a while." Ruby spoke to the stone. Weiss felt the overwhelming urge to cry well up as she realized where they were. Instead, she sunk down her her knees beside Ruby, not knowing what else to do. "You're probably wondering why I brought you here, Weiss. And I'll get to it. I just need some time to figure out how to say everything."

"It's okay, Ruby." Weiss said, brushing the outside of her hand with her fingertips. "I'm… I'm here."

Ruby exhaled a long, slow breath and nodded. The silence between them sat for a few minutes until she took another deep breath to speak.

"I was only five when she died, you know." Ruby said. Her voice was quiet, but loving as if the memories being recalled were both sad and happy at the same time. "I found out the details of her mission when I was eleven by reading the after-action report in Vale's public records."

Weiss held her silence, knowing it was hard enough for Ruby to open up about this topic without her interference. Any questions she had could be answered later, if they needed to be asked at all.

"It was a patrol mission. Like the one we just came from." Ruby continued. "All the intel pointed to a simple, low risk scouting mission that shouldn't have taken longer than a day. It was wrong. Three days later, an entire team was sent out as a search party. Only one hunter returned."

Ruby stopped there. She changed her sitting position so she'd be more comfortable on the hard stone and turned so she was facing Weiss.

"I read the after-action report that hunter made. He described the sensation we experienced in the forest back there in disturbingly vivid detail, but that's where it stopped making sense." Ruby said. "He described shadows that moved impossibly fast, and attacked with devastating power…. At the end of the report, it was noted that he was admitted to a mental institution. In the end, they changed my mom's status to killed in action when a large group flying by noticed her blade embedded in this cliff."

"Ruby, I'm sorry." Weiss didn't know what else to say. What could she say to someone who'd lost a close family member, and not known for sure whether they were actually gone.

Ruby shook her head dismissively. "I was twelve when Uncle Qrow first took me to see the grave he made for her. He said this is the exact place they found her weapon. That was when I started concentrating on my training."

Ruby looked out over the cliff and sighed. Weiss watched, not knowing what to do to help Ruby, but grateful that she was able to experience the trust Ruby was showing her.

"You know, I didn't lie on that first night. When I said I wanted to be a huntress to help people." Ruby continued, speaking more quietly than she had been. "I didn't lie, but I didn't say the entire truth."

"Ruby…" Weiss felt like they were heading to a point that she would rather not visit, but Ruby ignored her.

"See, ever since I found out about mom's death, something inside me has been telling me its not real. That all I need is to become stronger and I can get her back if I can just kill the grimm that took her from me." Ruby said with a shake of her head. "I know that's not how things work, but it's been my goal to kill whatever is in that forest back there."

"I… don't know what to say." Weiss voiced her feelings honestly. She'd never seen Ruby like this before. So exposed and at the same time so raw and unguarded, but strong. Weiss felt as if she was seeing the inner workings of how Ruby for the first time.

"But lately I've been thinking that I can finally let go." Ruby said, turning back to Weiss. "For the last few years, I've worked to become the best huntress I could be, not for some stupid idea of revenge, or to become what I've always wanted to be. I've worked for our team. For Blake and Yang. Most importantly, I worked for you. I was always afraid that I'd let you down if I didn't do well. That you'd be disappointed in me if I wasted my time at Beacon. I never intended to fall in love with you. But I did. I could never have imagined that I would tell this story about my mom to anyone at all, let alone you. But I did. You might not know it, but that's why I wanted my tips died white. Because it reminds me of… everything you've done for me."

"Ruby…" Weiss was lost for words. She hadn't anticipated Ruby confessing her feelings for her when she'd asked her to tell her story, but that hardly mattered at this point. "I didn't know you cared so much."

"Well, I guess you helped me figure out something Uncle Qrow told me a while ago." Ruby smiled. "At the time, I shrugged it off, thinking that being able to protect scores of faceless people would be incentive enough. Now I know he was giving me advice about how I continued to live my life."

Ruby got up and faced back out over the cliff as she took a deep breath.

"If I really want to become a huntress, I need a real reason to put my life on the line." Ruby said. "Right now, I can still choose what I want to do, but there's only so long I can put off my decision. If I continue down the path I've been walking on for years, I'm sure I'll die. It might not be soon, but it will definitely result from being a huntress. I know you say you can't make any choices in your life, but I disagree. I asked if you'd come here with me today, and you chose to follow even though you knew it meant getting back to school a day later and that it would cut into your study time."

"Well, I wouldn't say that-" Weiss started to argue but was ignored.

"You say you serve no purpose but to serve your family, but that can't be true. Otherwise, you wouldn't spend time with someone like me. Someone with average grades, who is on the edge of becoming antisocial, is somewhat of a weapons fanatic, and who will never make enough money to even see the top end of middle class." Ruby turned and looked Weiss dead in the eyes. The steady silver making it clear Ruby was as serious as she'd ever been as she spoke the next few words. "You spend your time with me. Laughing, studying, just relaxing around the dorm, because you want to. Not because your family wants you to. I know you have things you have to do after we graduate, but please, would you just consider that maybe… just maybe, I don't want you to do some of them? That maybe you don't want to either? That maybe, somehow, we can work things out and both be happy?"

"I've already told you I can't!" Weiss cried, her voice cracking at the emotional turn Ruby's dialogue had taken. "I can't go against my family! I can't just say no and walk away! Since the moment I was conceived, I've had my life planned out for me. I can't run away from the life I was given, but while I've been at Beacon I've felt free. And I can thank you for showing me that, but it's still just an illusion! In a few months it'll disappear just like that town we just scouted or your mom! I'll be living the life that was set out for me and then, once I've fulfilled my duties, I'll end it! Happiness is a luxury people like myself just can't afford!"

Ruby stared back at Weiss for a long moment that stretched as if it would never end. When it finally did, Ruby sounded defeated.

"So I guess that's it then." She said to the still air between them.

"Yes… I suppose it is." Weiss breathed as she came down from her shouting high.

Another long moment passed and Ruby looked down at the stone between them.

"We should get going. It'll be getting dark by the time we get to the wall." Ruby said half to her mom and half to Weiss.

"Ruby…" Weiss started, wanting so badly to apologize, but unable to find the words since she'd only spoken what she knew .

"It's fine. Let's just go, okay?" Ruby asked quietly as she turned to the forest.

She walked away without waiting for a reply.

* * *

Not a single word had been exchanged between the two teammates on the trip back, only a simple farewell before they parted ways inside the city. Ruby had mumbled something about stuff to do downtown and Weiss was exhausted from the mission and the stressful atmosphere that hovered over them on the way home.

Weiss walked slowly down the dark streets, passing smiling people walking in the opposite direction. They were most likely headed to the city center for the nightclubs and bars that were popular among the young crowds. Technically, Weiss was part of that crowd too, but her responsibilities to her family outweighed the wish to drink away the bad day.

She wasn't an alcoholic, but on days like this she did enjoy something strong to help her fall asleep. Especially considering she'd be up with her torturous thoughts otherwise. Normally it was easy enough to swipe something from Yang's stash, but the results were somewhat disappointing. But expected due to the cheap liquor Yang tended to buy.

Weiss sighed and turned down another random street as she worked her way closer to the cliff where her dorm sat waiting. She passed yet another group of people who were all laughing and yelling at each other as they started their night without any worries. Weiss glared at them as she passed, the few who took notice of her lost their smiles and fell silent until she'd passed completely. A few whispers broke out but Weiss ignored them. She must have looked odd, with her dirty white outfit and large old backpack. The only thing that justified her dreadful appearance was the gleaming rapier at her side. The warning to her enemies that she wasn't easy prey.

Weiss turned another corner to find herself facing a dead end. She started turning back when she noticed the bright white sign that was just above her head. It was a liquor store, and the place looked abandoned. The exception was the security guard sitting on a lawn chair and smoking beside the entrance and the freckled ginger reading a magazine behind the counter inside.

"Well, that's tempting…" Weiss mumbled to herself as she walked through the door, ignoring the guard's look that made her feel like she was a potential criminal.

She made her way to the back of the store where the large label on the wall indicated the vodka section. She quickly found a quality bottle and took it up to the register. She didn't wait for the teen to get to his job and dropped some lien on the counter with a generous tip. She opened her backpack and placed the bottle in it while the boy was fumbling with the register and left, ignoring his calls about her change.

She found her way back to beacon soon after, her feet long since numb from the endless walking of the past two days. She opened the door to her dorm to find both her teammates were in for the night while Ruby was still absent.

"Yo, Ice Queen!" Yang greeted as she dropped the text book she was studying. "Where'd you leave Ruby?"

"I don't know. She left me at the wall, saying something about downtown." Weiss said, dropping her bag onto the foot of her bed and tossing her jacket over it.

"Well… that's strange." Blake said from behind her book. "Did you two have another fight?"

"No. Ruby and I have just come to an understanding. That's all." Weiss replied as she picked up her nightgown. "I'm going for a shower."

Weiss left her teammates with frowns on their faces. It wasn't anything new to Weiss as this had happened almost routinely over the past few years. Every time, it seemed everything was her fault. _She_ was the one who made Ruby cry. _She_ was the one who let her eat too many cookies. _She_ was the one who laughed at Ruby's mistake.

As she closed the bathroom door, a new thought came to her. _I'm the one who rejected her. I'm the one who broke her heart…_

Weiss didn't quite know what to make of the new situation. She remembered every tiny detail that had happened since her explosive first encounter with the scythe-wielder. The hot water felt nice, washing away the feelings that lingered with the caked on dirt. She started wondering when Ruby's infatuation with her had all started. It definitely wasn't that first day, nor the first month. Throughout her education, she had been slowly spending more and more time with her team leader, though it was only obvious in retrospect.

She remembered their first all-night study session. Ruby had been goofing off most of that day and Weiss had refused to let her sleep until she finished studying all the material in her Grimm Studies book. Needless to say, Weiss had failed somewhere around four the next morning when she'd fallen asleep while Ruby was actually working. She'd woken up cuddling Ruby and had quickly removed herself from the situation. Ruby either never knew what had happened, or she chose to ignore it.

Weiss's birthday that first year was interesting. Ruby had decided to take the whole team to the carnival on the docks. Weiss remembered she'd complained about missing her study time but was ignored by the others. Eventually, Ruby had gotten her alone on the ferris wheel to give her the present she'd made. It was a small key-chain with a cute little dog on the end. At the time, Weiss had been speechless at the unexpected gift. Even now, she still had it attached to her backpack.

Weiss thought over many more memories as she scrubbed the remaining dirt from her skin. Ice skating, the food fight incidents, the tournament, a hundred missions into grimm territory, the trips to the Forever Fall, and the time the oil ran out on an extended mission in the middle of winter. Not a single one gave her any clues to help solve the mystery she was facing.

In the end, she realized it didn't matter. None of it did. Nothing had changed in her life. It was all still planned and moving forward as expected. She was still to be married and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it even if she wanted to.

That thought was also new.

 _If I could get out of my arranged marriage, would I?_

The question was simple, yet her answer was somewhat confusing as she thought over the proposition. On the one hand, she simply did not want to be married. If it was her choice, she'd take over the company on her own and deal with finding a successor later on, when the situation called for it. Any business acquisition that came from her marriage would definitely be possible with the resources her family had access to. There was simply no need to use her life as a bargaining chip in a deal. _But therein lies the problem… I'm worth that entire fortune, but it wouldn't cost that much to marry me off. In fact, I suppose it may even increase that fortune rather than deplete it._

She sighed as she considered the alternative. If she were to give up her inheritance and disown her family, she could simply do what she chose. She could get a job at a small firm, or go on hunts as someone who would by that time have huntress qualifications. She'd be entirely free from any obligations to her family or the company, at the cost of the uncertainty that would come from parting with her riches. She was smart enough to know that financially, she'd be lucky to stay out of debt. Socially, she'd most likely be pushed out of most lower level business jobs due to her social skills. She may be able to make up for that with her skills in analytics or politics, but she doubted it. Another option would be to rely on her modeling career, but that too would likely end quickly as she would lose sponsorships from the dust company and she wouldn't stay the same age for ever. The only guaranteed job was becoming a huntress like her partner, and even then it would be plenty of work for little pay.

Logically, she worked well with Ruby and has increased her kill efficiency at a steady rate over their time at the combat school. She would make a valuable addition to any team, but that was the problem. Her combat style suffered when she was alone. At least when she had Ruby by her side, she could focus on each kill while Ruby controlled the crowd. She could provide support to her teammates quickly, and from a distance. But she couldn't defend. She could only redirect incoming attacks in order to minimize their effectiveness. Something that was of crucial importance for the solo hunter.

She knew the statistics of the job opportunities hunters had. Only thirty six percent were for teams greater than one person. And those jobs tended to get messy. Her chances of success in the industry seemed laughable at best.

She stepped out of the bathroom to find only Blake remaining in the dorm. As always, she was reading.

"Yang stepped out then?" Weiss asked rhetorically as she moved her jacket to a laundry pile and started unpacking her backpack.

"Yes. She went to find Ruby." Blake answered in her usual monotone.

Weiss simply nodded as she added more laundry to the pile and sorted the gear that would need to be returned to the armoury. She pulled the bottle of Vodka, still cold from the freezer she'd bought it from, out of the backpack and placed it on the bookshelf just beside the window.

She shoved the backpack under her bed and sighed as she took a glass from the clean stack on the back of the study desk.

"Would you care for a drink as well?" Weiss asked her faunus teammate before she returned to her bed.

"No thanks." She replied shortly, looking over the book to see what Weiss had been offering.

"Suit yourself." Weiss shrugged as she sat back on her bed. She took the top of the bottle off with a flourish that had been trained into her. She poured herself a generous amount and started sipping it while she looked out at the shattered moon floating just above the library across the courtyard.

All was silent in the room for a while as Blake read and Weiss sipped her drink, trying to push thoughts of betrayal out of her head. The fragments of the moon slowly changed shape as they twisted in the void of space from whatever impact that had shattered them from the orb eons ago. Weiss watched as she finished her glass and poured a second.

"It's not my business to butt in, but if you'd like to talk about it, I'll listen." Blake offered at length, setting her book aside and rising to take a glass. She sat down across from Weiss and gestured to the bottle between them. Weiss replied with a nod and Blake took the bottle and served herself a small shot.

Weiss kept silent for a while until she had her thoughts sorted. Out of everyone she knew at the academy, Blake was probably the one person she'd be able to talk to. She wouldn't judge her too harshly, and she often saw things in an analytical light just as she did. If anyone could help her organize her whirlwind of thoughts, she had the best chance of success.

"Alright. But I have no idea where to start." Weiss said as she downed the rest of the glass and placed it down on the shelf beside the bottle.

"Maybe you could start with why Ruby ran off as soon as you got to the wall." Blake suggested after a moment.

Weiss thought about it and really couldn't find an answer that she'd be happy with, so she started telling Blake about the patrol. She told her about how she'd confronted Ruby about her attitude during the missions, she spoke about how they visited the grave and what took place between them. She explained how Ruby had walked off, how her expression was still burned into her memory.

Weiss poured herself another drink as she fell silent, waiting for Blake to speak. Waiting for her to say anything that might make her feel better about her situation or resolve it.

"I suppose that makes sense then. I had a feeling this would happen sooner or later." Blake sighed while placing her glass down on the shelf. She stretched out on her bed and turned to look at the heiress with her bright amber eyes. "You shot her down pretty hard."

Weiss felt the familiar stab of guilt run through her as she nodded her response. There was no denying it, she'd been unintentionally brutal with her partner.

"I know it's not what a _Schnee_ does, but you could start with an apology." Blake suggested, knowing that Weiss was looking for advice. "Maybe take her out on a date or something."

"But I can't do that!" Weiss argued only for Blake's eyes to lock onto hers and narrow in an unspoken threat. "Yang would kill me for toying with Ruby when all is said and done."

"That doesn't change the fact that you need to apologize." Blake stated firmly. "And like you've said, and I quote: _I'm free right now_. Just make sure you tell her that it can't possibly continue post-grad. She just needs to get you out of her system."

"Are you sure it's that simple?" Weiss asked hesitantly. She was afraid that Blake didn't know Ruby as well as she did.

"Have I ever told you about my first boyfriend?" Blake asked in reply. Weiss shook her head and Blake sighed. "To make a long story short, I thought I was in love until I actually started dating him. After the third or fourth date, I realized the feeling wasn't what I thought it was and I didn't actually care for him that much."

Weiss took in her words while nodding. When she spoke, she couldn't hide the hesitation from her voice. "So you think Ruby would be okay if I… dated her for a while?"

"Bingo." Blake answered and turned away while pulling the covers over herself.

Weiss looked back out the window. The fragments of the moon continued to turn just as they had for millennia as Weiss slowly came to a decision about Ruby.

* * *

"Hey Rubes!" Yang yelled loudly in the moderately populated communications room of the Vale Cross Continental Transmit Tower. A few people looked up in confusion at the blond as she walked to the far side of the room where she'd spotted her sister sitting at a booth.

"Those files are quite old, are you sure you don't have the incorrect directories?" A pink haired receptionist asked from the screen in front of Ruby. Yang stopped just out of view and just far enough back to observe the conversation without intruding. Sure, eavesdropping was wrong, but this was her little sister that she had to keep safe. Running away after a patrol and making a business call definitely fell into the category of _not_ normal.

"Those are the correct ones." Ruby nodded. "My scroll has the proper authorization codes for the entire database. I'm sure you'll find that sufficient."

"Very well, let me see…." The receptionist looked to the side and read some files that Ruby had transferred before turning back. "These codes are from the heiress's scroll. How did you get them?"

Yang's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she connected a few dots. Ruby was talking to Schnee Headquarters in Atlas, and she was asking for files that only Weiss, or someone with administrator level privileges had access to.

"I'm her team leader at Beacon. She lent them to me as a personal favor. She also instructed me to request new codes be sent to her once our business here is done." Ruby replied with a friendly smile.

"As much as I'd like to help you, these files are only available for viewing by the Schnee family." The receptionist said.

"And that's why she gave me her access codes, not some guest access codes." Ruby argued. She wasn't about to lose this argument. It was difficult enough to convince Weiss to give her a copy of her access codes, not when she'd been issued her own guest codes. There would be next to no chance to do this again.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to patch you through to my manager." The receptionist said with a smile of apology before the screen went blank and the Schnee Dust logo replaced her.

Ruby leaned back into her chair, her fists pressed into her eyes and a sigh of frustration on her lips. She stretched and turned her head to the side to find Yang not two feet away.

"Yang!" She jumped up in surprise.

"Yo, lil' sis!" Yang ruffled Ruby's hair before Ruby could block her and relaxed against the outside of her terminal stall.

"What are you-?" Ruby snapped her mouth shut as the logo disappeared from the screen to be replaced with a white haired woman that looked strikingly similar to Weiss. Her white hair, while not long like Weiss's, was tied up in a bun at the back of her head with a single strand of hair falling on either side of her face. Her eyes were a deep brown unlike the crystal blue Weiss had, and her facial structure looked more pronounced, with closer to hollow than full cheeks, and a sharply pointed nose. The word _sculpted_ came to mind.

"Hello Ruby Rose, I am Winter Schnee. I've been informed you have requested a set of files that is not for normal use. Is there any reason in particular that you want these specifically?" Winter asked as her eyes scanned down the list on her computer screen.

"Uh, well…" Ruby hesitated partly due to her surprise at talking directly to Weiss's sister and due to the questionable motives that had driven her to request the files.

"Let me be honest with you, Ruby." Winter continued, ignoring Ruby's hesitation. "Under all circumstances, I have instructions to not give you, or anybody else outside my family, access to these files. However, if you are simply going to deliver the files to my sister, I have no reason to refuse. So… why do you want these files?"

Ruby took a moment to see the logic behind Winter's words. But something her partner had told her before she'd first met Winter, kept her from answering. Instead she asked another question. "Why would you want to help me? You don't even know me."

Yang watched the interaction from the side with interest, wondering what files were so important that Ruby needed to make a deal with Weiss's sister to obtain. She'd only heard Weiss talk of Winter a few times over their years at Beacon, and it had been fairly negative. One warning in particular that Weiss had given them was to never make a deal with her unless it was absolutely necessary.

"I've already said I can't help _you_ in this matter." Winter stated firmly, giving the barest tilts of her head, indicating the camera behind her. As she turned her head, Ruby could barely make out an ear-piece in her ear, meaning the camera would only be picking up Winter's voice, not her own.

"Alright, then." Ruby agreed with a hesitant nod. "What is it you want from me?"

"Since you have given your word you'd deliver these files directly to Weiss, I'll start the transfer." Winter typed a few words on her keyboard. Ruby watched as all the files she wanted were downloaded and then one last file transferred along with the others.

"Did _all_ the files download correctly?" Winter asked shortly.

"Yes. Thanks." Ruby nodded.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Winter replied and the screen faded black.

Ruby swiped her scroll out of the terminal and scrolled to the extra file and opened it.

"So what's that all about?" Yang asked as Ruby shuffled past her, engrossed in whatever was on her scroll. "Ruby? Hey wait up!"

Yang followed her sister in silence as they boarded the elevator back to the ground floor. They were alone, so Yang had nothing to do but whistle along with the terrible music. She took in Ruby's appearance that was little better than Weiss's when she'd returned to the dorm. Her face had dirt from the past couple of days along with some smudged tracks that indicated the path of tears that had been wiped away. Despite this, her eyes were hard and focused the way Yang had rarely ever seen them.

"Sooo…" Yang breathed, hoping Ruby would come out of her thoughts.

"See for yourself." Ruby held out her scroll to the brawler as she closed her eyes and leaned back on the railing of the elevator.

Yang took the scroll and turned it so it was right side up. What she saw was a rather short message in a basic text file. Nothing about it screamed special, but it undoubtedly would give her a clue to Ruby's strange interaction.

She scrolled past the usual opening filler that she was used to seeing in Schnee contracts from every time she applied for experimental dust or prototype weaponry or foundry materials. She stopped at the actual content of the message and read aloud.

"I, Winter Schnee, hereby give Ruby Rose the following files detailing Weiss Schnee's responsibilities post graduation under the pretext that this exchange remains between Ruby and her team, extending only to those named at initiation, and myself." Yang read as her eyebrows worked their way up her forehead in surprise. "This agreement authorizes all parties free and complete access to listed documents under the understanding that any interference with said documents or events relating to them may result in the disinheritance of Weiss Schnee and the reinstation of Winter Schnee as heiress of the Schnee family and all that entails. In addition to the above, Ruby Rose, should she accept the transfer of these documents to her portable scroll, will be held solely responsible for any repercussions resulting in the breach of this contract which may include, but may not be limited to, fines, imprisonment, loss of rights, and death."

Yang looked over at Ruby who took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she opened her eyes to look at Yang. The two stood in the slowly descending elevator until it stopped gently and a bell rung indicating the door had started to open.

"I'll answer your questions on the way home, okay?" Ruby asked Yang tiredly. Yang couldn't remember the last time she'd heard Ruby's voice so completely exhausted, yet still thrumming with the tone of Ruby's resolve.

"Alright, but I just have one question. What did you need these files for that couldn't wait till tomorrow?" Yang asked as she held the door to the CCT for her sister.

"Yang… I'm in love with Weiss…." Ruby admitted with blush as she walked beside her big sister.

"Well, dur. I mean, you wouldn't be staring at her all the time if you weren't." Yang laughed at the obvious.

"I don't do that!" Ruby argued quietly as she trudged along beside her sister.

"Sure, sure." Yang let it go since she could tell Ruby wasn't in the mood to be teased. "But it's not like she's getting married off or anything."

"Nail on the head." Ruby replied with a grimace.

"No… but arranged marriage went out of style, what? A hundred years ago?" Yang replied in shock.

"Apparently someone forgot to send the Schnee's a memo." Ruby said as she looked back to the massive tower behind her. "And my semblance makes me the perfect messenger."

Yang looked at her sister for a moment before breaking up into laugher.

"That was so cute! You trying to be all bad-ass!" Yang's laughter removed her ability to speak momentarily until she could force it down again. "Now stop dawdling like a noodle and lets go home!"

Ruby yelped as Yang scooped her over her shoulder and ran down the street. Ruby's shouts of protest ignored as she pounded on her sister's back. After a few blocks, those shouts turned to laughter and Yang smiled to herself as she listened to the giggles of her sister. But even beneath the happiness of hearing her sister laugh, Yang's thoughts remained angrily on her white haired teammate.

 _You better do something fast, Schnee. Or someone's gonna get hurt. And I'll be damned if it's Ruby…_


	6. Grievances I

Things had changed in RWBY's dorm room since that mission two weeks prior, and Weiss wasn't quite sure what had happened. She had woken up the next day to find that Ruby had woken before her. As out of character as that was, Weiss didn't dwell on it since it had happened the odd time over the past few years.

Though Blake spoke to her on occasion when Yang wasn't in the room, she seemed to be folding her nose even deeper into her ever-present books when Yang was there. Often she'd offer a quiet hum as answer to a question directed to her, or she'd simply ask not to be disturbed while she was reading. And while the rest of the team was used to the latter of the two tendencies, the former had their leader starting to worry even if she didn't admit it openly.

But from the three members of her team, the one who's change was most confusing was Yang's. Weiss had spoken with her only twice over as many weeks, and both times had been out of necessity. That in itself, Weiss could live with. Especially considering she disliked the blond's constant puns and general disrespect for her. But what was going on was something she'd never imagined.

Yang seemed to outright ignore her. She'd give no indication she'd see her enter the room, she wouldn't greet her with a nick-name, or comment on the fact that her entire outfit was white. She wouldn't make a horrible pun from anything she said. In fact, Weiss was fairly certain Yang was tuning her out on the odd occasion she'd be speaking to the room at large. She passed her in the halls without even a glance of recognition, and would simply ignore whenever someone referred to her as a teammate.

Weiss knew Yang enough to know that sort of treatment wouldn't go unwarranted in some way or another, but that was Weiss's conundrum. To her extensive memory, she hadn't done anything to deserve the ghost treatment she was receiving. And, though she'd never admit it to a single living soul, it hurt. The past few days she'd even found herself wishing the brawler would just start making puns about her obsessive grammar, or warn her not to get lost in the snow.

And if she described Yang's change as unprecedented, then Ruby's was exponentially so. Since that first day, Weiss had dismissed the notion that it was chance that found Ruby awake before her. The younger girl appeared to be studying, though what she was studying throughout each and every day was a mystery.

Every morning, Weiss would find Ruby scrolling through text on her scroll. And it wasn't the kind you'd call light reading. She had a notebook resting beside her with a pen that she seemed to be using to jot down notes with numbers and the odd word that was scribbled so badly Weiss couldn't make it out without looking closely. Once, and only once, she caught a glimpse of a graph as she was walking by that she could have sworn was a stock management tool.

Ruby's attitude, however, seemed to have returned to normal. She laughed and joked with the heiress as usual, the flirting still present in almost every interaction. But Weiss could tell something was not right. Ruby's smile was never as bright as it had been before, her laugh missing the musical note that Weiss had come to know. And Weiss couldn't help but think she was the reason it had gone.

Yet not once could she offer Ruby an apology. The one time she'd tried, Ruby had shot her down saying she would win Weiss over yet. Even with graduation looming and the clock working against her, Weiss had never heard her resolve as clear as it had been when she'd said that. It was even more powerful than the time she'd told Weiss she was going to take being a leader seriously in their first year. It was the attitude that told Weiss that no matter what, she'd do anything to achieve her goal. And if Weiss was completely honest with herself, it suited Ruby.

"Something on your mind?" The kind voice broke through her thoughts and she looked around at its source.

"Yeah! You never can't study! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO WEISS SCHNEE?" Nora yelled from her spot beside Pyrrha.

"Nora, be quiet. We don't want to get kicked out again." Ren spoke from across the table. Out of everyone, Nora seemed to only have ears for him and quieted down.

"But anyway, you've just been tapping your pencil on your paper for like, twenty minutes straight." Nora spoke in a hush.

"If you need someone to talk to, we're all here if you need us." Jaune said with a gesture to include the rest of his team in his offer.

"Thank you, but that won't…" Weiss trailed off as Yang walked through the doors. As was usual, her eyes slid over the heiress before finding the others.

Weiss looked down at her hands as she waited for the inevitable encounter to end. She already knew how it was going to go, and knew that it would be best if she just kept quiet.

"Hey guys!" Yang greeted the table as she approached. "Just wanted to see what you guys were doing later. Thought we could have a good old fashioned RWBY vs JNPR spar."

"Actually, we have a mission tomorrow, so we'll need our rest." Jaune said with an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"Not a prob!" Yang waved as she continued past the table. "Maybe another time then."

"BYE!" Nora waved as her team shushed her.

A moment passed before Weiss looked up to find all eight eyes of JNPR on her.

"I would ask, but I think we all know what's up." Ren stated the obvious as they waited for Weiss.

She sighed and placed her pencil gently atop her blank page and took a deep breath. "It's not just her. My whole team is acting strangely."

"Really? How so?" Pyrrha asked while Ren stood to take a fidgeting Nora out of the library. By now she was used to the two disappearing so as not to disrupt the others.

"Ruby's gone study-crazy like she was at the beginning of first year but she's definitely not studying anything for her classes. Yang, as you could see, seems to have denied my existence entirely which is somewhat disconcerting. And Blake…" Weiss trailed off. She didn't exactly know how to explain that one. "She seems to be disconnecting again."

"Are you sure she hasn't just found a new series?" Jaune asked, knowing the tendencies of the faunus girl.

"It's been two weeks now." Weiss said as she closed her eyes to rub them. "And everything started at the exact same time."

"Oh…" Jaune replied dejectedly. "I guess that isn't it then…."

The group sat in silent contemplation, thinking of Weiss's teammates and why they'd be acting strange, yet only enough so someone on their team would notice. Weiss found herself simply cycling through the usual questions that she'd asked repeatedly over the last few days. _Why is everyone acting differently? What made them change? Was it her fault?_ No answers were provided.

"Maybe the best thing to do would be to have a team meeting." Jaune suggested at length. Weiss turned her attention away from her blank paper to look at the other leader. He noticed her stare and sighed before he continued. "Something we've done as a team over the past few years was to have a monthly meeting where we could say every little thing that bugged us about each other, in a 'no holds barred' sort of way. That way we could learn to cooperate better or work on things like not getting kicked out of the library."

"But the important thing is that everyone has to agree to keep their feelings to themselves about what is said about them. Otherwise it doesn't work." Pyrrha noted.

Weiss gave the idea some thought. Sure they'd had meetings similar to the one suggested, but everything was always said so as to be polite, making the issues smaller than what they were. But maybe if she suggested it and made herself available, she'd be able to talk to everyone and in turn get everyone to talk.

"You know, I actually might use that idea." Weiss smiled thankfully to the two as she put her supplies back into her bag. "I'll let you know how it turns out."

"Good luck!" Pyrrha waved as she left the library.

 _Now… where would I find Ruby?_

* * *

"Okay, so since this was Weiss's idea, I'll let her explain it to everyone." Ruby said from her usual perch at the foot of Weiss's bed.

"Hey, I didn't hear anything about this, so I'm leaving." Yang said as she turned to the door and started walking.

"Yang! Sit down!" Ruby ordered simply.

Yang hesitated, her eyes connecting with Ruby's. A moment passed and she sighed in defeat. "You know, I liked your puppy-dog eyes better."

"It's easier to just throw you off balance. That's how I won our last spar, remember? Now sit." Ruby shrugged.

"Make this quick, Weiss." Yang growled. _No nickname, no pun._

"Right…" Weiss took a deep breath as she made sure everyone was paying attention. "Lately I've noticed that something's changed in our team dynamic and I'm a little concerned about it."

Yang sighed heavily. "Did you figure that out yourself? Or did you need one of daddy's servants to help with that too?"

Weiss ignored Yang's blatant insult and continued. "So after getting some advice from Jaune and Pyrrha, I suggested to Ruby that we hold a team meeting where we can all just say everything about each other that bothers us. But we all have to agree not to be angry about anything anyone else says."

Yang rolled her eyes as she noticed the rest of her team looking at her. "Yeah, fine! Let's just get this over with."

"Okay then, who wants to start?" Ruby asked, looking around. Not a single sound was made for a moment before Blake sighed.

"I suppose in the spirit of things, I'll start." She looked at Yang who seemed surprised to be the first target. "I hate how every time you get food, you get the spicy version. Not that that's a bad thing all the time, but I really hate that frigging pizza you always pick."

"Like that." Ruby nodded at the rest of her team. "My turn then. Yang, you always use up all the hot water and after dealing with it my whole life, I'm done. Either start leaving some for the rest of us or go shower somewhere else."

"What is it, pick on Yang day?" Yang asked after being the target twice in a row.

"No, but I also find your puns quite grating." Blake replied.

"Fine, I'll try to be more considerate of you guys and lay off the puns, okay?" Yang huffed in annoyance.

"Hey, Weiss? This was your idea, so why aren't you saying anything?" Ruby asked after noticing that only the three of them were talking.

"Actually, I don't mind Yang's puns." Weiss said quietly, getting everyone's attention. "Or the nicknames or bad jokes…. They're much better than being ignored."

"I'm sorry if I have nothing to say to the bitch who broke my baby sister's heart!" Yang replied in a huff.

"Since when did she break my heart?" Ruby asked, feigning nonchalance.

"Since you made that fucking stupid contract with her sister." Yang replied before slapping her hand over her mouth. Everyone looked at Weiss who was blinking slowly as she processed the information.

"I'm amending the rules of this meeting. If you're asked a question, you have no choice but to answer. Agreed?" Weiss asked getting a nod from Blake who she could tell was already starting to disconnect again. "Ruby, Yang?"

The sisters exchanged a nervous glance as they shrunk under the sharp gaze of their white haired teammate. They nodded meekly, afraid the look in Weiss's eyes might just translate to a very bad sparring session later in the week.

"Good!" Weiss's expression changed to her usual passive expression. "Now, what would my sister have to do with you two, and why do I think that it has something to do with Ruby's studious behaviour over the past few weeks?"

"Heh, well… I guess… um…" Ruby stuttered, looking to Yang for help.

"Sorry sis, you're on your own there since I have no idea what files you took." Yang shrugged unhelpfully.

"If you don't need me…" Blake interjected, waving her book as she made to remove herself from the situation.

"Then I'll ask the only question I had for you first." Weiss decided to give Ruby a minute to get her thoughts in order before she returned. "Why are you so into your books lately? It never takes this long when you find a new series."

"That would be because it's written in pre-war Vytalian." Blake replied as if it were obvious. "I've been having trouble translating some sections and I'm only on the second book."

"That makes sense." Yang sighed in understanding as if the answer had been right in front of her all along.

"Right. Just be careful not to get too involved with that?" Weiss asked as Blake nodded in response. The entire team had to constantly pull her away from her books on normal days, when she found a new series that task became much more difficult.

"Yes mom." Blake sighed. "There's only three books in this series anyways."

Weiss nodded already turning her attention back to Ruby. She shifted under the gaze before she dropped her head with a sigh.

"Are you sure you really want to know why I made an agreement with your sister?" Ruby asked dully. Weiss could have sworn she flinched when she glanced up at her but maybe it was something else, something she disliked even more.

Weiss thought for a moment, glancing around the room at Yang and Blake. This conversation really didn't concern them in the slightest, though it would be rude to just leave without having at least a partially decent answer.

"I really would like to know, but we'll talk about the why later. I want to know what you promised her in return for whatever it was you wanted." Weiss could already guess the answer, but she wanted to hear it first hand.

"She wanted to help me so that I'd get you disinherited." Ruby sighed. "But at this point I may as well give up."

Sensing the conversation was once again taking a personal turn, Weiss stopped the train before it could leave the station. "In that case I suppose I have my answer. Do either of you have anything more to say in this meeting?"

"Weiss! Truth or Dare?" Yang said automatically as if she had been waiting the entire time.

"If I must pick one, truth." She responded, tapping her foot in annoyance.

"Okay, what color is your underwear today?" Yang asked making Ruby blush heavily.

"Lime, now is that all?" Weiss was done with this group meeting and wanted to have a private conversation with Ruby.

"I have one." Blake said, looking over her book. "Who'd you rather spend your life with? Ruby or Yang?"

"That's obvious. Ruby." Weiss replied quickly. "Yang's too much work to deal with."

"I know, so try it some time." Blake replied to an indignant hey from Yang who leapt onto the reading faunus, trying to wrestle the book from her hands. Weiss shook her head at the commotion and turned to Ruby who was still looking downcast.

"Will you accompany me on a walk?" She asked her leader who responded with a simple nod. Weiss followed her out of the room as the other half of their team continued their wrestling match.

After several minutes, they stopped outside a random set of windows that looked out over one of the many courtyards that dotted Beacon. There was a couple sitting on a bench facing away in the center of the area but the halls around Ruby and Weiss were completely empty.

"Ruby, here's fine." Weiss pulled the girl to a stop and she turned back to face Weiss.

"So… I'm in trouble now aren't I?" Ruby asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"No… I'm not upset with you. My sister can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but I can blame my father for that." Weiss shook her head, musing at how easily she'd gone off on a tangent. "No, what I wanted was to continue the conversation we were having back in the room away from prying eyes."

"Oh… sure." Ruby deadpanned. Weiss felt like she was seeing the stress that had obviously been building within her leader bubble out of her like an erupting volcano as she took measured breaths to deal with her nerves.

Weiss wanted to ask the why, but first she wanted to know what had prompted this studious change in her partner. She could find out why it was necessary afterward if it mattered. "What did you need my codes for that you couldn't get with your own guest ones? And why is my sister involved?"

"That's a bit of a long story." Ruby deflected the question, looking out to the happy couple sitting on the bench and frowning. "I hate people."

Weiss glanced over to find the girl giggling at some joke the guy must have made and cuddling up under his arm which hung protectively over her shoulders. Weiss couldn't say she honestly disagreed with Ruby's assessment but at the same time she knew what she really wanted was to trade places with that girl, or was it the guy she wanted to trade places with? Ruby'd effectively had her questioning her preferences ever since that night at the bar. She still had no answers.

"A-anyways, I'd like to know." Weiss spoke up, not exactly sure how long she'd been staring through the window with Ruby.

"Everything's on my scroll." Ruby stated simply. "And your sister was conveniently the manager on duty that day so she put an agreement into the files I asked for. It basically says it's not her fault if anything comes from us messing with them."

"I suppose it could have been worse then…" Weiss thought to herself, wondering what Winter had been doing by making such a vague agreement with Ruby. "Does she honestly think father would re-inherit her if something happened to me?"

"I guess if it's bad enough, yeah." Ruby replied.

The two continued to stare out the window, watching the couple interact as if they were watching a silent movie. They laughed and remained wrapped in each others arms and eventually started kissing, oblivious to the two spectators separated by three panes of glass and half the courtyard.

"I hate my life." Weiss watched them kiss and found herself mumbling just loud enough to be heard by Ruby.

"No, don't say that." Ruby responded, snapping Weiss out of her musing.

"Wha-"

"NO! I don't want to hear that!" Ruby shouted as if she could get the point across to Weiss by simply yelling. Tears were bubbling up in her eyes as she closed the space between them, sealing their lips together.

 _She's getting better at this._ The thought flashed across Weiss's mind, bringing with it conflicting thoughts that battled, leaving her motionless as one side of her told her to kiss back and the other reminded her of her obligations and duties. Before she could finish processing anything, Ruby took a step back and turned her back to her.

"I don't want to lose you, I cant deal with that." Ruby said to the empty hall. She passed her scroll to Weiss who took it in confusion. "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore…"

"Ruby-"

"I need some air. Come find me on the roof once you've looked through everything." Ruby said before passing Weiss in a quick walk. Her eyes never once turning in the heiress's direction.

Weiss looked down at the scroll in her hands and turned it on. It was already open to a directory full of what she recognized as Schnee contracts. And all of them were dated more than fifteen years ago.

"What have you been looking at Ruby?" Weiss mumbled to herself as she slowly walked to the library while reading contracts she'd never actually seen before for the first time.


	7. Acquiescence I

Weiss sat in the library flipping through pages of text on Ruby's scroll. It had been an hour and a half since Ruby'd left her in the hall with a kiss and she was still nowhere near done. She'd glossed over the countless contracts, simply noting their purpose before she started with the other notes. Winter's agreement was oddly vague, leaving far too much unsaid. Ruby'd made a note of that in another file before she went on to the rest of the contracts, stating highlights and potential loopholes. Most of them had a strike through with a reason noted afterward. One popular theme Weiss noted is that there were actually quite a few ways to get disinherited. The few remaining loophole possibilities involved things that she knew would never come to pass such as apocalyptic events, a preexisting marriage, or the closure of all Schnee Dust Company affiliated business.

Weiss kept swiping through the notes. She was impressed with how seriously and quickly Ruby had compiled everything and the massive amount of work she'd put into it. She'd already come to terms with Ruby's strong work ethic, but this was bordering on ridiculous considering she'd actually increased her class ranking in the last couple weeks, a feat not very common now that they were in their last year and everyone had basically stopped competing and accepted their position.

Weiss decided she'd seen enough and exited the file system. She paused when the background of Ruby's scroll came into focus. It was a picture of her and Ruby during one of their better days. Weiss was barely smiling and Ruby was grinning like she was about to get a cookie, which might very well have been the case since the background looked somewhat similar to the interior of a storefront. Out of sheer curiosity, Weiss opened the photo album and almost dropped the scroll. There weren't just a few pictures as she had on her scroll, the number at the bottom testified to more than a thousand photos for each of their years at Beacon.

Feeling somewhat hesitant to continue the blatant breach in privacy she was committing, Weiss took a closer look and started scrolling through the pictures. She recognized a few of them from various events over the past few years, and more that she never knew had even been taken, but as she continued to look, one theme became apparent. Ruby was never alone. Every picture featuring the girl had at least one other person in it, whether it was Yang or Blake or even Penny from her visit during the tournament in their first year. Then another theme became apparent. Weiss found herself looking back from a great number of the photos.

In most of them she seemed to be smiling, no matter how slightly, which puzzled Weiss. She knew she didn't often smile, so for Ruby to actually have the amount of pictures she did was nothing but a shock. Even her professional photos rarely had anything but a fake smile attached, so seeing herself smiling naturally was something new to her.

Weiss closed the album before she scrolled past the beginning of the first year. She knew Ruby had more pictures, but that was a line she wasn't willing to cross farther than she already had. She took one last look at the background photo and turned the scroll off.

She rose from her seat and made her way to the roof as Ruby had instructed. It wasn't as if it was a terribly cold day and she could easily guess as to where Ruby would be if she hadn't waited.

With her hand on the knob, she froze. Suddenly, she had so many questions but she couldn't answer any of them. Her knuckles were white from the grip she had on the knob and she could feel sweat bead at her hairline as her sudden fit of nervousness took its hold and the internal debate began once again.

 _Ruby kissed me._

 _She's done that before._

 _She can't seriously want to date me._

 _But all the proof says otherwise._

 _There's no reason she should even like me._

 _Why?_

 _I've been so terrible to her this past little while._

 _She was crying because you wouldn't just say yes._

 _But I'll just end up hurting her when I have to leave._

… _that is very true…_

… _but I want…_

…you _want… what?_

 _That's a good question… what exactly do_ I _want?_

Shaking her head, she opened up the door to the roof and found the red cloak bundled around a mass sitting on the edge of the roof, her legs hanging over the long drop to the courtyard. Weiss paused her approach, having second thoughts as the door quietly clicked shut behind her.

"Have a seat." Ruby motioned with one of her arms, offering the ledge beside her.

Weiss sat down facing the same direction as her leader, the emerald clock tower glowing in the darkness that was just starting to settle as the sun had finally fallen below the horizon.

She silently handed Ruby her scroll and they sat comfortably in silence until the last rays of light from the sun had disappeared and the stars started to poke out against the black of the sky. A slight breeze ruffled Weiss's long hair and Ruby's cloak as they sat a few inches apart.

At length Weiss found the need to fill the air with words ever more important as the cold of the concrete edge below her cut through her fabric, reminding her of their location.

"Ruby-"

"Stop." Ruby ordered, cutting the heiress off. "I know I laid my hand on the table, but I'm not sure I want to see yours…. I'm not sure if I can deal with it just now."

Weiss nodded in understanding and fell silent again. This time, Weiss had no clue what to say. It wasn't as if there was nothing to say, just too much and too little at the wrong times. Weiss watched the clock move to the new hour and sighed. They were just wasting time at this point, holding on to the way things were before even though that time had ended more than two weeks ago.

Weiss took a deep breath from the cool night air and let it out slowly. "What did you think you'd gain from looking at those contracts?"

Ruby didn't respond for so long that Weiss thought she hadn't actually spoken her question, the silence enveloping them making it hard to distinguish her thoughts from what had actually left her mouth.

"A way out, I guess." Ruby replied simply. Weiss found herself nodding, knowing that Ruby had always been selfless when it came to her teammates. Always adopting their problems as her own.

"You didn't have to bother. I'm not worth all the work you put in." Weiss told her, turning her gaze back out over the dark buildings that made up Beacon.

"You are to me." Ruby replied softly.

Once again, silence fell as Ruby's words penetrated deep into Weiss's heart. She felt tears prick at her eyes as her chest constricted itself in a way that hurt so badly she wished she could just run away from it. It wasn't that the feeling was new, she'd experienced it on occasion over the past years, but never this clearly. Never this potently.

"You already know the question I'm asking." Ruby spoke after a long moment. "We still have time until graduation, and I'm not asking for anything more, just…"

Weiss listened, her chest squeezing tighter and she knew there was only one thing to do, but she was scared. Not once had she truly let anyone into her life, but somehow Ruby had found a crack in that ice armour she'd constructed. Now she'd have to pay penance for her inability to keep herself at a distance. And it terrified her more than anything she'd ever experienced before.

"I'm scared, Ruby." Weiss confessed. There was just too much that was out of her control, something that had never happened before.

"I am too, but I…" Ruby trailed off as she shifted herself to look Weiss in the eyes. Weiss turned back to look at Ruby, their eyes meeting in the gloom, the emotions in each set communicating to the other what their thoughts were. "You have no idea how much I want this."

Weiss nodded more to herself than Ruby and took another shaky breath to try to steady herself and set her resolve. Everything inside her kept telling her to run and never look back but even if she wanted to, Ruby's presence kept her rooted to her seat.

"Can you promise me something, then?" Weiss asked meekly. Ruby nodded, placing her hand over Weiss's. It was surprisingly warm considering she'd been outside for almost two and a half hours. "Promise that after graduation, you'll forget about me. That you'll be okay."

"I can't promise that." Ruby said, moving slightly closer to the heiress. "I'll be okay eventually, but I'll never forget you."

Weiss realized that this was the best she'd get out of Ruby, even if it wasn't what she'd wanted. But there were a great many things on that list at the moment.

"In that case you'd better ask me properly." Weiss instructed, tired of the gloomy atmosphere around them.

Ruby smiled and giggled a little. Weiss felt a pang of relief at the normal sound coming from her leader and couldn't suppress the smallest of smiles that found its way to her lips.

"Weiss Schnee, would you go out with me?" Ruby asked, making sure to rhyme with a barely musical intonation to her voice.

"I must be crazy, but yes, I will." Weiss replied smugly, letting her smile grow slightly larger as Ruby's face lit up. It was the happy face that she'd come to know over the past few years, but somehow it seemed happier. Much happier.

Ruby spun around and stood up. She offered her hand to Weiss who mirrored her and stood while taking her hand. Ruby led them back to the door but spun in front of Weiss just before they reached it.

Weiss felt the still-new sensation of Ruby's lips against hers but for once she pushed the arguments in her head aside and kissed her back properly. They broke apart and Weiss felt somewhat satisfied that Ruby was practically glowing with the joy her smile was exuding.

"N-now we'd b-better get back to the room to study." Weiss blushed, having not expected Ruby to ambush her so suddenly but to her surprise, she was not upset by the action.

"Sure thing, Weiss." Ruby smiled and opened the door, pulling Weiss through. Their hands remained connected the entire trip back to the dorm. The warmth of Ruby's hand new but comforting to Weiss who still couldn't believe she'd actually agreed to what was almost definitely going to be a bad idea.

Ruby opened the door to the dorm and Weiss dropped her hand as she snapped out of her thoughts. Ruby glanced back at her with a look of understanding and lead them into the room.

"We're back!" Ruby announced as Yang and Blake each sat up from their respective beds.

"What took you two so long?" Yang asked as Blake returned to reading her book. "I was going to look for you after I finished the last question!"

Weiss noted that the blond had actually been working on her homework for once. Maybe she'd actually rubbed off on her teammates after a couple years.

"Now I can call it quits!" Yang tossed the book onto the shelf beside her bunk.

Weiss frowned and pushed her previous thought from her head. "Well, we're back now and we're going to study."

"And you really should finish your work as well." Blake piped in. "It is due tomorrow afternoon after all."

"Okay, Team RWBY's study session starts NOW!" Ruby announced, picking up her bag and tossing it into her bed before following it up.

Weiss had barely pulled out her notes when she glanced up to find both Yang and Ruby watching her with pleading eyes. She sighed, realizing it was just too much to ask for them to change their habits.

"Fine, if you have trouble, ask one of us." Weiss included Blake in the statement, but knew that she wouldn't actually be of any help. Just because she held one of the top spots in the class ranking, didn't mean she was a good teacher. Quite the opposite, actually.

The next few hours, Weiss found herself teaching about as much as studying, but at least she was able to review the more complicated theories that Ruby and Yang were having trouble with. Ruby joined her in her general reviewing when she'd finished her assignments and Yang struggled through as many assignments as she could until Ruby started to stretch out with a yawn.

"Alright, let's call it a night." Weiss announced to a sigh of relief from Yang and a nod from Ruby.

"Dibs on first!" Ruby said quickly as her semblance left petals in her wake while she raced to the washroom to change.

"Second." Weiss said just as Yang opened her mouth.

"Hey! You never participate in this!" Yang accused, rattled by Weiss's first time participation.

"Third." Blake said calmly as she turned a page.

"I've had a rather stressful day, so you'll forgive me for taking part in your childish game for once." Weiss huffed, pushing her notes back into her schoolbag.

There was silence as they heard the quiet noise of the shower start up behind the closed door. Blake kept reading and Yang dropped her work unceremoniously in the general pile of paper that constituted her school work. After a moment, Yang turned to Weiss with a smug grin on her face.

"Well, Ruby seems much happier than when you two left." Yang commented pointedly. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"

"W-what would make you think that?" Weiss replied, cursing the slight stutter at the beginning of her reply.

"We all know Ruby has a huge crush on you." Blake stated tiredly from behind her book.

"Just remember that if you have a problem, we have one too." Yang said seriously but vaguely. Weiss couldn't help but feel somewhat intimidated by Yang.

"Ruby knows what she's getting into." Weiss replied.

"As long as you know." Yang finished the conversation and plugged her headphones into her ears. She turned away from the heiress and started to quietly hum the tune of the song she was listening to.

Blake glanced up from her book and sighed. "What's on your mind?"

Weiss jumped a little at Blake's question as she snapped out of her thoughts. She shook her head and sat on her bed.

"I think I may have made a big mistake." Weiss said, echoing her thoughts.

"Do you want to end it?" Blake asked boredly.

"No, I-" Weiss started and Blake cut her off.

"Then it must not have been a mistake." Blake replied. "Ruby may be younger than us, but she's not a child. She knows what she's doing, and she'd have to since she's been the leader of our team."

"But-" Weiss tried but once again was cut off.

"You know she had to grow up quickly." Blake said. "If you think there is anything you could tell her that would change her mind, then go ahead and tell her. But if there's not, then just let her make her own decisions. I have a feeling that you feel the same way about her anyhow."

"There's a large difference between my wishes and my responsibilities." Weiss replied, thinking of what came after graduation with dread.

"Then I'll tell you a secret that nobody else ever will." Blake made sure Weiss was paying close attention before she continued. "If any of those responsibilities that you're so worried about were forced on you, nobody has the right to criticize you for opting out."

"But it's not that easy." Weiss protested.

"Yes, it is." Blake argued. "If anyone asks, I never said a word of this to you. But you know I protested for the White Fang. When the management changed, we were forced to adopt new… ideals. I was given new responsibilities, new jobs…. In the end I realized that those responsibilities were not really mine, they belonged to the hand that was controlling me like a marionette. So I cut the strings and learned to stand without help. And here I am."

Weiss nodded to the story and gave a weak smile. "Thanks, I guess I needed to hear that from someone who's gone through that."

"If you want to talk, just let me know." Blake replied and went back to reading. "And I'm going to shower in the morning. Let Yang know for me?"

"Sure." Weiss stood and tapped Yang's shoulder.

"Sup, Princess?" Yang asked, pulling an ear-bud out.

"Blake's going to wash up in the morning. I've been told to let you know." Weiss stated shortly.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll do that too." Yang replied.

Weiss spun back to her bed as Yang sat up. She'd been with her team enough by now to know that Yang was completely comfortable stripping in front of them. She waited until the shuffling noises stopped and Yang was in her pajamas. Blake had also seemed to change at the same time and was now under her sheets. It spooked Weiss sometimes how quietly Blake could do literally everything.

The door to the bathroom opened and Ruby walked out with her usual black top and white bottoms, both decorated with pink hearts. She smiled at Weiss and blushed a little before she started pulling her school work off her bed.

Weiss walked into the washroom and closed the door with a sigh. _This has been one long, stressful day…._

Weiss showered and dressed quickly, even compared to her norms. She quickly found her way back out to the room which was now very dark as the lights had been turned off. She got into her bed and sighed, hoping to get her brain to calm down enough to allow her to sleep.

She felt something large and warm wrap around her softly and almost yelped if it weren't for a hand that covered her mouth gently.

"Shh… it's just me." Ruby spoke softly so her whisper was barely even audible to Weiss.

"W-what are y-you doing?" Weiss replied slightly louder than she'd meant to.

"I'm making the best of our time together." Ruby replied, pulling Weiss tighter into her arms.

"Don't just think that I'm going to let you into my bed just because I agreed to go out with you!" Weiss hissed in response.

"Weiss, we've had even less clothing between us before and it wasn't a problem." Ruby argued. "Just relax. I just want you to know you're not alone anymore. No matter what, you'll always have me."

Weiss felt her face burn hot at Ruby's words. The searing sensation coursing through her veins to light her skin ablaze not helped by the warmth that Ruby's body enveloped her in. And looking past the embarrassment she felt, she realized one feeling she never would have even dreamed of having before that moment. Ruby's protective arms made her feel safe.

"F-fine, but you better not hog the sheets or I'll never share again!" Weiss huffed indignantly.

"Sure thing, Snowflake." Ruby sighed as she relaxed into the cuddle. "I love you."

"Hmmm. Goodnight Ruby." Weiss replied behind a yawn as she wrapped one of her arms around Ruby, gently returning the embrace. A soft smile stretching her lips as she closed her eyes.

* * *

"Yes, father. I've just sent you the files." Weiss spoke into the terminal she sat at in the CCT. She was having yet another pleasant conversation explaining why she did not receive an impossibly high grade in a class she could care less about. "I've already explained the circumstances and considering I still received the highest mark in my class, I feel there is no point to continue this facet of conversation."

"Be that as it may, you are a Schnee." Her father spoke calmly but harshly. "You were conceived and trained to be perfect, just as I was and my father before me and so on. If you cannot even exceed a ninety eight in your most difficult class, what reason do I have to accept you as the heir to our company? I doubt I need to remind you of your… relative."

"Winter has nothing to do with this. Just as you designed." Weiss replied sharply. "Not to mention that I was never your first choice as heiress."

"You were designed to be perfect. So I hardly think it matters whether you were my first choice or not." He replied. "I expect your next round of examinations to be flawless otherwise I see no reason for you to complete your education at Beacon when Atlas's Military Academy would allow you to also partake in training here."

"It's been obvious that you don't see the value of Beacon's education since I started here." Weiss stated angrily. "Now if you'll excuse me I have more important things to do than waste my time convincing you to approve my decisions. Therefore, I will call two weeks from now as scheduled."

"We are not done talking, Weiss." He spoke sharply.

"Oh, we most definitely are." Weiss pressed the button to terminate the call and the screen fell into darkness. She hung her head back and pressed her palms into her eyes to alleviate the headache that had started to grow behind them. She let out a long breath and let her arms drop to her sides as she stared at the ceiling. As she stared, a face surrounded with brown hair with dyed white tips entered her vision.

"Hey. That sounded pretty rough." Ruby said quietly so as to avoid others hearing her in the somewhat quiet room.

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before. Not to mention he was in a good mood today." Weiss sighed and got up from her chair. "Anyways, we came to Vale, we might as well do something while we're here. Any ideas?"

"We're going on a date." Ruby replied with a smile as Weiss blushed at the blatant mention of their relationship.

"Not so loud Ruby. You know we can't go public." Weiss grumbled.

"I'm your leader and partner. I can order you to come with me or you can come because you want to. Your choice." Ruby grinned. They'd already talked about all this back at the dorm, but to Weiss it still felt surreal that they were actually going forward with this. "Now come on."

Ruby grabbed onto Weiss's hand and pulled them to the elevator. "Let go of me dolt!"

"You walk to slow, now hurry up!" Ruby replied, squeezing Weiss's hand gently as she continued to pull her along. Weiss smiled at how seemingly easy it was to just get caught up in the moment when Ruby was taking the lead. Before she knew it the couple stood alone in the elevator headed to the ground level.

"You know… nobody's watching us right now." Ruby leaned her shoulder into Weiss's.

"Cameras, Ruby." Weiss replied, dropping Ruby's hand but letting her hand brush the back of Ruby's instead.

"You're no fun." Ruby grumbled, forcing a frustrated sigh from Weiss.

"Fine, we have fifteen seconds left. Do what you will." Weiss mumbled. She wasn't entirely sure whether or not the elevator's camera had a microphone, or worked for that matter, but it didn't hurt to be safe. That way, at the very least she could just play anything off as Ruby pulling a prank on her if it managed to get back to her father.

Ruby, ever the opportunist, pressed her lips into Weiss's while pushing her back against the side of the elevator. Ruby pressed her body into Weiss and brought her knee up between Weiss's legs to press at her core as Ruby deepened the kiss. Danger signals flashed inside Weiss's head but she couldn't do anything except meet the tongue of her girlfriend with her own as her nerves were lit ablaze with every small movement Ruby made. Her hands gripping the railing behind her tightly as she braced herself.

A quiet ding sounded and Weiss found herself stumbling as rose petals floated around her. She knew she must have had the largest of blushes on her face as she straightened herself out quickly and stepped out of the elevator beside Ruby who looked none the worse for wear.

"You might want to fix your hair too." Ruby mumbled as they passed someone waiting to get into the elevator. They looked at Weiss strangely, prompting her to look into her reflection in the glass of the nearby information board.

Her hair looked as if she'd just gotten out of bed or done some other similar activity.

"Ruby…" Weiss growled angrily as she brushed her hand through her hair. It didn't do much good.

"Uh…" Ruby backed away slowly, her eyes terrified of what she'd done in the heat of the moment.

"I think we need to have a little chat." Weiss smiled, the angry look above her smile darkening the image to seem even more scary than was usual.

"Please don't kill me!" Ruby begged as Weiss placed a very firm grip on her shoulder and started to guide her out of the building.


	8. Dereliction I

**Author's Note:**

 **Hello everyone, thanks for reading! I'd just like to take a moment to tell you all what's in store for this story going forward. If you want to just skip this, go ahead and scroll down to the non-bold text as I'm just going to be doing a little rant about writing this.**

 **Due to the subject matter I have planned to address in future chapters, I find writing this on the best of days to be somewhat difficult. As a result, I had stopped posting regular updates, but I didn't stop writing. So far I have at least two more chapters already finished, so I'll be trying to post semi-monthly as my focus is currently completing my first ever FF series, and another story that I believe is coming to its completion shortly. I don't mean to say that this story isn't in my focus, just that I tend to procrastinate and that often comes in the form of writing or reviewing the chapters for those other stories rather than this one. I do intend to bring this story to completion some time in the not-so-near future, so I ask those who were worrying about a lack of updates to rest easy knowing that I haven't yet, nor will I abandon this project as it is one of the largest challenges I've ever given myself to write and to do so would be a failure. As always, I strive to give the best quality I alone am capable of creating to my stories, and unfortunately that occasionally translates into delays due to my inner QA giving my chapter a fail even after edits are finished. So for those of you who've read through this brick of an A/N, I ask that you give any praise or constructive criticism that comes to mind when you read this or any of my chapters, as I am forever looking to better myself and I can only do that with external input. So one last time before you begin this chapter, thank you for reading.**

* * *

Despite what she may or may not have been expecting, Weiss's relationship with Ruby hadn't actually changed since they had secretly started dating. Sure there had been much more time spent on 'dates' which were more or less trips to Vale. The two would do things like shopping, eating, and talking but that was already their normal routine as friends, since they often replenished their living supplies while they were out. Other than that, the usual study time had remained exactly the same with Weiss and Ruby bouncing practice quiz questions back and forth to review class material or working on the most recent project. And this left Weiss somewhat confused.

She thought back to their first date where Ruby had cornered her in the elevator. She had been lenient with Ruby in the aftermath of that specific event considering how embarrassed she was. But even though, she felt that Ruby had taken a step back which gave her an inexplicable sense of abandonment. Not that she was new to that specific feeling, just… to have it come from Ruby was something she wasn't ever expecting and it surprised her how much it hurt.

The quiet screech of a chair being moved snapped her out of her thoughts as the student in front of her stood, gathering their test papers to hand in. Her gaze snapped up to the clock hanging above the professor's desk and saw she still had about twenty minutes left of the two hours allotted for the test. Her eyes fell from the clock to the page in front of her. The absent markings of her pen were running across her page as her hand had kept working even when her mind had disconnected. She quickly scrapped the page and looked at the previous one to find where she'd left off only half way through the second question.

Twenty five minutes later, after some of the fastest writing she'd ever done in her life to answer the remaining six questions, Weiss collapsed onto her bunk with her arm over her eyes to shield herself from the questions she knew were bound to come from her teammates once they also returned. She let out a deep sigh in the peaceful atmosphere… and then the door opened.

"Weiss! Are you okay?" Ruby asked with concern as Weiss felt her sit down beside her on the bed.

"Yeah, you never use all the time on a test!" Yang exclaimed as she dumped a random assortment of her notes on her ever-present pile.

"You did seem distracted." Blake piped up before ducking behind the book she'd retrieved from the shelf.

"I'm fine." Weiss replied shortly. "Just having a bad day is all."

"Anything we can do?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing." Weiss got up and went to get her clothes to change.

"Are you s-"

"I said I'm fine, Ruby!" Weiss snapped as she walked into the washroom. She ignored the hurt look on the younger girl's face as she disappeared behind the closing door.

Five minutes later as she took a deep breath to calm herself, she exited the washroom and quickly made her way out of the dorm even as Ruby made to follow her. Weiss ignored her tag-along as she walked up to the office of Peter Port and knocked twice.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" Ruby asked hesitantly but Weiss continued to ignore her.

Footsteps on the other side of the door announced the departure of another guest and Weiss stepped back as the door opened to reveal the headmaster of the academy sipping a steaming cup of caffeine.

"Hello Ruby, Weiss." He greeted as he stepped out into the hall. "I hope all is well."

"Hello." Weiss replied politely. "I wish to speak with Professor Port if he is in."

"Then don't let me keep you." Ozpin gestured toward the door and stepped back across the hall beside Ruby. Weiss entered and closed the door as Port's voice boomed out a greeting.

"Hi Professor." Ruby greeted, looking up at her headmaster. "I actually was going to send you a message, but do you have a minute or two?"

"I believe I can spare some time. What can I help you with, Ruby?" Ozpin asked.

"I… I was going to ask if maybe we could get our next mission moved…." Ruby asked hesitantly as she waited apprehensively.

"Hmmm…" Ozpin thought as he looked down at Ruby through his small glasses. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Ms. Schnee's connections in Atlas, would it?"

"Uh… maybe?" Ruby replied as if in question. "I mean, there's a few things that I can't really explain-"

"As a hunter, you often must put priority on your feelings." Ozpin responded with a nod. "How do you feel about the mission to Atlas?"

"Honestly, I don't have a bad feeling about the mission." Ruby admitted. "It's the city that I'm feeling a little uneasy about."

"I see…" Ozpin nodded as he took a long sip from his mug. "I'm sure you understand the risks involved with the change you requested since the only other available mission in your group is to Mistral."

"Yes sir. The swamps in the area can be problematic but I believe it would prove to be valuable experience for us." Ruby replied quickly. "We've already been training for the swamps for the large clearing mission coming up before graduation and I believe a shorter trial would prove whether or not we've been addressing the proper concerns."

Ozpin smiled and nodded as the door opened, a frowning heiress taking her leave with a final thanks to the professor. She stopped beside Ruby politely waiting to take her leave.

"I think your class has become excellent examples of our profession." Ozpin stated as he looked over the two, his eyes stopping on Ruby as he took another sip from his mug. "I will consider your proposal Ms. Rose, and I will send you a response before the end of today."

"Thank you sir!" Ruby smiled. "See you later!"

"Good day." Weiss nodded as she followed Ruby back down the hall.

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee and walked back into Port's office. "I believe I've made my decision."

"So soon? I thought the idea was to wait until after the school tournament." Peter Port replied in surprise.

"There's no need. We've conditioned them for the past three years. We know their capabilities, and we have more than satisfactory records of their accomplishments up till now." Ozpin stated.

"The thing you manage to forget is these girls are still children!" Glynda Goodwitch replied as she stepped through the door behind Ozpin. "They are not killers!"

"As I remember, we weren't either." Ozpin replied calmly. "But there is a point when they must realize that hunters don't simply hunt grimm, but also the monsters who would try to break the fragile society we maintain."

"But is that point now? When there are still months left until graduation?" Goodwitch argued.

"If I may, I believe this matter would be better undertaken when the students are still ours to instruct." Port interjected. "I believe you both remember the difficulties this issue brings to light, and I believe it would be beneficial to their psyche to have us to help them through the initial phases."

Goodwitch nodded and looked to Ozpin as he slowly swirled the coffee in his mug while he thought. At length he released a weary sigh.

"This world is not what it was last year." He stated calmly. "I fear our age of peace is coming to an end, and therefore, so too must our age of ignorance. Shielding our warriors from the reality of war will do little to help them when the time comes to take up arms against their equals.

"Is this your final decision, Sir?" Goodwitch asked, a frown stretching across her face to show her opposition to his choice.

"Yes. It's better to be prepared." Ozpin replied.

"Rather than to send them in unprepared and untrained." Port finished with a nod. "But I fear for the young Schnee. Her family hangs on the edge of many sides of this obscure conflict."

Ozpin looked to Goodwitch who nodded in understanding before he found the words with which he wished to respond. "I believe the future of our world may just depend on that girl's family. All that remains is finding out what that might entail."

* * *

"Come on Weiss!" Ruby pestered her girlfriend. "I just want to know what's wrong. I want to help!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that nothing is wrong!" Weiss almost yelled back, drawing stares of the people walking down the hall as she continued her quick pace.

"Well something is wrong!" Ruby replied ardently. "I can help! I know I can!"

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I was beyond help?" Weiss screamed as she spun to look Ruby in the face. The terrified look adorning Ruby's face did the one thing Weiss knew nothing else could. It stopped her rant and immediately made her feel sorry.

She reached out slowly and Ruby flinched away for a second before Weiss gently placed her hand on Ruby's cheek. She felt a sharp pain in her chest when she saw Ruby flinch and felt angry with herself that she'd made it happen. Her voice disappeared and all she could muster was a regretful whisper as she looked down from Ruby's glistening silver eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Weiss, I need you to-" Ruby's voice was cut off as Weiss's lips met her own. Her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth opened automatically to the heiress's prodding tongue as Weiss deepened the kiss. In her peripherals Ruby could make out more than a dozen students taking notice of them as they made their way to or from the cafeteria that was only a short distance away.

"I can't believe I did that…" Weiss mumbled as she took a step back from a still shocked Ruby and looked around at the many students that were watching her in surprise, causing her temper to flare. "Why don't you all take a fucking picture?"

"Weiss!" Ruby yelped as Weiss grabbed her wrist and dragged her off away from the crowd and into the next building, turning this way and that down the halls until they were quite alone. Then as if all the energy had been drained from her body, Weiss released Ruby and slumped down against a nearby wall and hung her head while she took deep, shaking breaths.

Ruby looked up and down the hall to make sure they were really alone, but it seemed there was nobody here as the lights were mostly off and the classrooms on either side were locked for the day. She carefully sat beside Weiss who's breathing fell silent as if she were suppressing whatever had her gasping a moment ago. After another moment, Ruby picked up on the barest of whispers leaving Weiss's lips and leaned forward to hear. What she could make out was simply Weiss swearing repeatedly as whatever she was thinking tore her apart.

"Weiss?" Ruby hesitantly reached out to her and placed her hand on her back. When she wasn't shaken off, she slowly started rubbing small circles how she remembered Yang used to do when she was upset. After a couple moments, Weiss took a deep breath and sat up properly, forcing Ruby to remove her hand. Ruby noticed the stressed look to her eyes and the defeated slack to her jaw that left her looking as if something vital had gone wrong, and she supposed considering the events of the day, that was a good possibility. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Weiss looked over as if noticing Ruby for the first time and shook her head, a slight semblance of herself returning to replace the defeated look with a look of disappointment mixed with anger.

"No, I don't." She replied shortly as she looked away from Ruby and up at the stone ceiling above them. "But I will."

"O-kay…" Ruby didn't know what to make of the response, but determined it would be okay to ask a few questions. "Well… did you mess up on the test?"

"Messed up…" Weiss mused more to herself than Ruby. "Yes, I suppose that is one way to sum it up."

"What do you mean?" Ruby's confused voice brought a wry smile to Weiss's lips.

"I wasn't paying attention and ended up wasting most of my time." She explained. "And I have nobody to blame for my grade but myself."

"But we just took the test." Ruby responded. "There's no way you could have your mark already."

"That's why I wanted to see Port. He graded it and that's it." Weiss sighed in frustration. "It's all over… over something so stupid…"

"Hey, I'm sure it's not that bad-" Ruby started but trailed off on the look Weiss gave her.

"Eighty-nine." She said quietly. "I rushed to answer everything and got an eighty-nine. It's as if I can already hear my father yelling at me… and worse."

"Weiss, I'm sure-"

"No Ruby. You heard him at the CCT. _I expect your next round of examinations to be flawless_ , blah, blah, blah." Weiss laughed grimly at her own impression. "There's no way he'd let me stay even if he has to come get me himself."

"Weiss-"

"I'm sorry Ruby. It seems we don't have till graduation." Weiss sighed and hung her head again. "It would probably be better if you just left-"

A sharp snap rang out and an equally sharp sting erupted across her face bringing tears to the corner of her eyes as her hand felt the tender sting where Ruby had hit her. She looked up and over at Ruby who was watching her in sadness as the flare of anger slowly disappeared from her features. Weiss felt a wave of hotness rise up her throat and before she could do anything tears burst forth and a sob erupted from her lips as her vision blurred and she collapsed sideways into the girl with the white tipped hair.

Ruby held her tightly and rubbed her back comfortingly as Weiss let her emotions flow while she imagined everything she'd been working toward fall apart.

Seconds or hours passed and Weiss finally pulled her emotions back under control. She noticed she'd nearly soaked Ruby's shoulder where her tears had fallen and felt a fresh wave of regret hit her. She tightened her arms around the younger girl until the feeling passed and she felt her exhaustion hit her full force.

"Shh…" Ruby whispered into her ear as she continued to rub her back. Weiss felt her eyes droop closed and the world ceased to exist.

* * *

A beeping noise brought Weiss back to reality as she woke from her sleep in the middle of a hallway. Her back felt stiff and she could barely feel her legs as they'd fallen asleep. But at least she wasn't cold due mainly to her sleeping girlfriend who she was leaning against.

She heard the beeping again and slowly reached into Ruby's pocket to extract her scroll. She pressed the button to silence the notification and replaced it before she gently disconnected herself from her companion. The movement must have been noticed as Ruby shifted as she too started to wake up.

"Where are we?" She mumbled, as Weiss moved out of her embrace. She looked up and down the hall before her eyes settled on Weiss. "Oh, right."

"Right." Weiss echoed as she readjusted herself to sit more comfortably.

The silence stretched between them as both girls recalled the events of the day and what had taken place shortly before their unplanned nap. Weiss knew there were things they'd have to discuss but didn't know where to start. After all, nothing was absolutely certain but she couldn't help thinking realistically. Her father wouldn't take kindly to her grade and regardless of her choice going forward it would most likely be filled with one type of hardship or another.

"We need to talk." To her surprise, it was Ruby who broke the silence.

"Yes." Weiss struggled to remember what she'd been meaning to say. "About before…"

"About the test?" Ruby asked. When Weiss didn't continue, she did. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"No. I mean yes…. Maybe." Weiss sighed. "I mean yes, I'd like to talk about it. No, it almost certainly won't be fine. And if we're lucky I won't have to go home."

Ruby nodded and took Weiss's hand. She squeezed it gently and brought it to her lips once. Weiss felt her face flood with heat as she simply watched Ruby keep her eyes steadily locked on her own. Then she clasped her other hand on top of where she'd laid her lips and applied a soft pressure that told Weiss that somehow everything just might work out.

"Let's start at the beginning, okay?" Ruby suggested, noticing how lost Weiss looked as she attempted to sort her thoughts. "What happened with the test?"

Weiss hesitated but knew now was the best possible moment to voice the concerns she'd been having about their relationship. She knew it would be a while before a better opportunity presented itself and the way Ruby had stayed with her all evening so far proved just how much she cared. It was still something Weiss had yet to get used to.

"I was distracted." Weiss started explaining. "I was thinking about us and how nothing has changed since we've started dating."

"I thought you wanted me to stop bothering you though…" Ruby mumbled but Weiss picked up on it.

"Ruby… if you're still thinking about that time in the elevator, you need to know I've moved on. I was angry, yes. But I let it go." Weiss replied as she could only guess that was what had given Ruby such an idea.

"Oh… so it's okay then?" Ruby asked cautiously.

Weiss sighed in exasperation and quickly leaned in to place a peck on her partner's forehead. "I never want you to feel like you have to change for me. I just want you to be you. The same person I've known since she set me on fire before I even managed to get in the front doors of Beacon."

Ruby let out a giggle at Weiss's words as she remembered the brilliant fireball that had engulfed them. "Okay. I can do that."

"Good." Weiss nodded, feeling already more at ease now that the air had been cleared. "Because even though I did say I'd date you, I didn't say you could waste our time together like we have since…. When exactly did you realize you… liked me this way?"

Ruby blushed and hid her face behind her wave of white tips. "It's sort of hard to tell, but it was around the time that you told me you'd be my best teammate."

Weiss thought back, remembering only two occasions she'd said something similar to Ruby. "Which time? The one at the beginning of this year after we came back from the Outlands?"

"Nope." Ruby mumbled, seemingly in embarrassment. "After we finished fighting about who deserved to be the leader."

Weiss felt her mouth fall agape at Ruby's confession. Her stomach did a few flips as a new sensation started to flow through her. "For almost three whole years… you've…"

"Yes, Weiss." Ruby nodded and looked up. Her face matched her namesake but she seemed happy as her silver orbs found ice blue. "That's why I was so surprised at the bar. I never thought you'd ever think of me like that. I thought our relationship would just stay as best friends."

"Ruby…" Weiss felt a mixture of sadness and pain wash through her at the revelation. She wanted so badly to find some way to turn back time, but she knew that was impossible. "You are my best friend, and quite possibly my first friend. I still can't believe how happy you've made me just by being my partner."

"Weiss, stop it." Ruby mumbled as her face took on a more powerful blush that she tried desperately to hide but Weiss wasn't about to let Ruby away when she looked so cute with her blush going strong. Ruby's face was kept still with a gentle hand on her cheek so she was forced to keep looking Weiss in the eyes.

"Ruby. You are the first person I ever met that hadn't been a friend pre-authorized by my father or after my family's fortune in one way or another. You were also the first to explode on me within a minute of said meeting." Weiss paused as Ruby groaned in embarrassment. Weiss smiled as the blush on Ruby's face deepened just at the mention of their meeting. She moved her face slightly closer to the girl each time she added another statement to her list. "You were the first person to actually try to become my friend, and you succeeded. You were the first person who tried to impress me, and you succeeded. And sadly, you were not the first person to attempt to kiss me. But you were the first I wanted to kiss. And consequently, also the first that didn't find themselves rolling on the ground in pain. You were also the first and only one to care enough to get stuck inside my head enough to distract me from an exam."

Ruby was practically glowing as Weiss's whispers slowly grew more sincere and emotional. Ruby closed her eyes at the gentle breath that ghosted across her lips as Weiss's barely made contact. Then they pressed slowly inwards and Ruby felt herself start to melt from the romantic air between them and the shocking tenderness Weiss was exhibiting. So far she'd been the only one to initiate anything, but now she knew she wanted Weiss to take charge whenever she felt like it.

Weiss broke the kiss and rested her forehead against Ruby's as she slowed her ever so slightly quickened breathing. Ruby opened her eyes to see Weiss's remaining closed as she soaked in the moment. Ruby was about to break the silence when Weiss spoke up once more, keeping her eyes shut as she said the last thing she knew she needed to say.

"Ruby, I have no idea what might happen tomorrow. My father will get a copy of my mark and he will almost definitely force me to go home." Weiss stated so Ruby knew why she was so conflicted. "I… don't want to leave you."

Weiss finally knew exactly what she wanted in terms of her relationship and it hurt more than anything to know it wouldn't work out. If she could do anything in her power to just extend what little time she had left for even a day, she felt like she'd be the happiest person alive.

"Shh…" Ruby moved to pull Weiss into a hug and started rubbing her back in circles again. Weiss knew she wasn't about to cry, but the circles seemed to also help her let go of the stress of the situation. Weiss took a deep breath and matched Ruby's embrace as a show of thanks. A thanks she felt could never be repaid in even an entire lifetime.

In the silence a beeping noise sounded making Ruby stiffen slightly. It wasn't unusual to get a message on their scrolls, but Weiss had a feeling it was important if Ruby was reacting the way she was. Weiss released Ruby and pushed her back gently.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, nodding to Ruby's pocket that was still beeping.

"N-nothing." Ruby replied quickly as she turned off the noise and moved to hug Weiss again only to be stopped by her outstretched hands.

"It's obviously not nothing if it's distracting you. Check it out." Weiss instructed and Ruby complied quickly. She scanned her scroll quickly and flicked through a couple of windows before giving a satisfied nod and returning it to her pocket. "Was it anything important?"

"Well, sort of but…" Ruby trailed off as she looked into Weiss's eyes.

"Come on, I've been the one telling you everything today, so talk." Weiss smiled warmly as she leaned back against the wall.

"Well… I wasn't sure if I should say anything, but since the mood's dead, I guess now's as good a time as any."

"Bad news?" Weiss guessed. Ruby never kept secrets unless there was a good reason, and she'd folded her hands together as if in prayer. Ruby took a deep breath before she answered.

"We've got another mission. Mistral's swamps." Ruby said monotonously.

"That's not bad. What is it, patrol? Nest clearing?" Weiss suggested, wanting to get the topic over with even though they'd just started. It's not like she'd have the chance to stay long enough to start the mission anyways.

"Capture." Ruby replied while closing her eyes.

"What?" Weiss thought she'd heard wrong. All her concerns suddenly gone as she realized that this time, the mission was serious.

"Capture. As in we find this guy and capture him. Or kill him. And then bring him in." Ruby replied in monotone. "Also, we leave tomorrow morning since his movements have started to lose a pattern and the window of opportunity is closing."

"Oh…" Weiss nodded as she let the information sink in. She knew that some hunters took contracts like this, but it didn't make things any easier when she's been on the opposite end of the sword before.

Ruby shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked over at Weiss. "Well, better not to dwell on it just now. The airship leaves at six so we have to get up early… but at least I get to keep you to myself a little while longer."

Weiss blushed at the possessive tone Ruby took as she scooped the heiress back into her arms.

"You are such a flirt, you know that?" Weiss informed Ruby as the latter started to pepper small kisses across her jaw and upper neck.

"Only with you, Weiss." Ruby replied in a whisper before Weiss felt a tug on her ear that brought a gasp from her lips as Ruby's teeth nipped playfully. Weiss was so lost in the assault that the sudden shadow that blocked the light from the windows came as a surprise as Ruby and Weiss jumped apart.

"Whoa! You two are dating now?" Nora asked excitedly as she bounced up and down. Ren was nowhere to be seen and that meant big trouble in Weiss's mind.

"Nora! Listen to me!" Weiss tried to grab the girl but she was already out of reach. "Please don't tell anyone! It's very important!"

"What?" Nora looked shocked as she spun around. At least that's what Weiss thought her expression looked like underneath the heavy dose of sarcasm. "I would never tell anyone… except Jauny and Reny and Blakey and Yang. And Suny and Neptune and Coco and Pyrrha and Velvet and-"

"Please, Nora. Please don't say anything to anybody." Ruby pleaded, her hand holding Weiss where she was as if she could sense the need Weiss felt to attack the girl in front of them singing the names of all their friends.

"Okey dokes!" Nora saluted and skipped back down the hall while she continued to sing the names of her friends on a loop.

Weiss and Ruby stood and started walking back to their dorm. As they did so, they exchanged a skeptical look.

"Do you really think she'll keep it a secret?" Weiss asked, voicing her doubt.

"I guess we'll have to see?" Ruby replied with a nervous giggle. "But just in case… we should probably tell Yang and Blake?"

Weiss sighed in defeat. She had wanted to keep the circle of people who knew about her relationship as small or non-existent as possible. Nora finding out was definitely detrimental to that plan. And she knew she'd be lucky if all of Vale didn't know about them within the week. Though all the blame couldn't fall solely to Nora. She hadn't exactly been discrete when she'd kissed Ruby at the end of their argument earlier. "Fine, let's just get this over with and then pack. We'll have a long day tomorrow."

"Yeah…" Ruby smiled and leaned into Weiss as they continued walking. " _We_ will."


	9. Divine Interruption I

"Are you all packed?" Ruby asked in a whisper as she set her backpack down by the dorm's door.

"Almost. I just want to fit this last container of dust in here somewhere…" Weiss replied with a quiet grunt as she forced the cylinder into the only remaining space that was just barely large enough for it. "There. Done."

Weiss wiped the imaginary sweat from her brow and placed her bag beside Ruby's. She looked at the checklist they'd been following and checked off the last box with a nod.

"Alright. We have everything we could possibly need." Weiss said as she looked down the list once more to find out if there was something else they should be bringing. "We'll get our weapons from our lockers in the morning so all that's really left is to get some sleep before we have to leave."

"Also…" Ruby nodded to the sleeping half of her team. Weiss hung her head and then nodded with a sigh. Ruby quickly pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear. "Listen, I know you don't want to do this but I guarantee it'll be a thousand times better if she gets the official version from us before Nora starts making things up. Remember the baby Boarbatusk and the syrup-ceiling incident?"

"Right." Weiss remembered, or rather couldn't forget, the event that had happened mid way through their second school year. There was absolutely no explanation for what had happened that fateful day, or how it happened for that matter, except that it had been Nora's fault. _Definitely better to avoid anything to do with that one._

"Okay then…" Ruby released Weiss and produced a silver whistle and suddenly Weiss had a bad feeling about the events about to transpire. She reached out to stop Ruby but it was already far too late as the girl blew hard. The screeching noise made Blake sit bolt upright and even Yang who could sleep through explosions jumped and fell out of her bed.

"Whas on fire?" Yang asked as Blake let out a yawn while she rubbed sleep out of her eyes.

"Nothing sis, everything's fine." Ruby offered her hand to her sister and pulled her up from the floor. "We just have some stuff to tell you guys and we need to do it tonight."

"Why not just do it in the morning?" Blake asked in a grumble as her eyes started to drift closed again.

"That is the second part." Weiss said as she joined the conversation. Yang sat down on Blake's bed while yawning. "The first is that I did not do too well on a test, so I will most likely be withdrawn from Beacon within the next few days."

"What?" Yang asked in shock. "Your Dad isn't that big a dick, is he?"

"Trust me, sis. He sounds like he might be worse." Ruby replied to a nod from Weiss.

"Anyhow, I'll have to worry about that later since we have a mission tomorrow that takes us to Mistral." Weiss continued, not wishing to dwell on her family longer than necessary. "I'd prefer it if you kept that information quiet though. I don't need my father to send his goons out after us just to take me away in the middle of a mission. Not to mention they're subtle as an exploding burn crystal in a room of propellant."

"We can do that." Blake nodded simply. "I assume you've said the same to the headmaster?"

"Yes, we took care of that before we came back to the room." Weiss nodded. "I don't think it mattered though since apparently this is something big that we're doing this time."

"What is it?" Yang asked as her tired brain finally caught up to the conversation.

"Capture." Ruby replied to an understanding nod from her sister. "Anyways I'm getting tired and we leave at six tomorrow morning. Do you want to say it or should I?"

Weiss couldn't help but smile at Ruby's question. It was something that showed just how much she valued her opinion even in something as trivial as this. "On three?"

"Alright." Ruby nodded and turned back to her other teammates.

"What's going on?" Yang asked in confusion as Ruby counted down under her breath just loudly enough for them all to hear.

"We're going out!" Ruby exclaimed happily.

"We're dating." Weiss's less enthusiastic voice was drowned out by Ruby's excited squeal.

"We were sort of having a moment and then Nora came along so we thought it would be better to tell you two before you found out from her because we all know how her stories work." Ruby continued quickly. "Yang?"

"I don't know what you're expecting from me." Yang shrugged as she got up and wrapped the two in a hug. "Congratulations, but sorry if I already guessed that you were together."

"I knew too." Blake yawned as she fell back over into her pillow.

"She told me actually." Yang clarified. "And I'm really not sure I know what I think about this yet. So Weiss… take care of her for me alright? And remember what I said the other day."

"What did she-" Ruby started to be silenced by a quick kiss from Weiss.

"Nothing at all." Weiss turned back to Yang and nodded. "You know I will."

"That I do." Yang yawned and looked over at the time. "Now go hit the sack and I'll see you two when you get back."

Ruby nodded and pulled Weiss with her into the lower bunk.

"Ruby, now that your sister knows, are you going to start sleeping with me every night?" Weiss asked as she remotely shut the lights off with her scroll before placing it on the desk beside them.

"Yup!" Ruby nuzzled into the crook of Weiss's neck and planted a single kiss as she settled into her girlfriend's arms. "That's exactly my plan!"

Weiss didn't answer for a while as she fought to get her emotions under control. "Okay then. Goodnight Ruby."

"Night, Weiss." Ruby mumbled in response as she already started to drift off.

Weiss smiled and closed her eyes as she felt Ruby's breathing slow to a crawl.

* * *

Weiss jumped as a loud screeching noise met her ears and her eyes snapped open. Her scroll must have been going for some time as it had never managed to escalate to that volume before. She desperately reached out and fumbled to turn off the alarm to relieved sighs from the opposite pair of bunks. Weiss tried to sit up but was blocked as Ruby's arm stiffened in the embrace she'd kept throughout the night.

"Come on, let me go." Weiss whispered as she heard Yang start snoring again. "We have to get ready."

"Five more minutes…" Ruby grumbled in response as she tightened her arms once again.

Weiss struggled against Ruby but knew it was in vain. Ruby had been swinging a heavy weapon around herself for a long time and that muscle wasn't going anywhere. She gave up and relaxed back into the pillow and felt Ruby lighten her grip in response. Weiss thought for a minute and decided the best way to get Ruby up was to wake her up without her realizing what was happening. But from her position she could only use what she had on hand, which was nothing. That's when an idea struck her.

She desperately hoped her teammates were both back to sleep as she shifted to face her leader. Again, Ruby's arms tightened, but only as if she were preparing for Weiss to run away.

"Ruby, we need to get up now." Weiss whispered quietly. She gave a gentle kiss to her forehead and received a smile on Ruby's face as a response. She continued to repeat herself as she gave Ruby small kisses on her eyelids, her chin, her cheeks, and tip of her nose. The last of which earned her a small giggle even though Ruby had been trying to feign being asleep.

"Well, it seems Ruby really is asleep." Weiss said as if talking to herself, knowing Ruby was listening to everything. "It really is too bad since I was going to give her a kiss on the lips too. But she won't enjoy it if she's sleeping, so there's no point to it."

Weiss smiled as she attempted to turn away but was blocked by Ruby's grip. She turned back in mock surprise to see a pair of silver eyes meet her own, the brows above them bent down in frustration as she pouted.

"You're not playing fair." Ruby complained as she used one of the glares Weiss had taught her to emphasize her annoyance.

"Nope." Weiss whispered in response with a grin. Ruby started giggling at the reversal of their usual conversations in the first year at Beacon. Ruby pulled her in and Weiss obliged by keeping her promise.

Weiss fought to keep herself thinking straight as the kiss heated up and Ruby's hands moved from their lock to explore. Weiss waited a few seconds for Ruby to relax and then quickly rolled on top of her, pinning her hands to the bed beneath them.

It took a couple of seconds for Ruby to realize what had happened and then her heavy breath caught as she watched her partner stare down at her like a predator.

"Uh… hi." Ruby giggled awkwardly. Weiss couldn't help the grin spreading further across her face as Ruby blushed deeply while she was in the position Weiss had forced her into.

Weiss knew she'd have to take a step back soon but really couldn't pass up the chance to mess with Ruby one last time even though she realized it might really be the last time she ever did. She leaned down and made sure to press her body into Ruby's while keeping her hands firmly pinned.

"I think I like you in this position…" Weiss taunted with a whisper directly into Ruby's ear, causing the girl to gasp. Weiss knew Ruby had to have superpowers to not be affected by her teasing and slowly started kissing Ruby's neck as Ruby desperately tried to move. Weiss was thankful that she'd positioned Ruby in a way where she had almost no leverage, meaning even Weiss could keep her there all day without so much as breaking a sweat.

She reached the crook of Ruby's neck and stopped, letting her lips linger for a while as her sense abandoned her in favour of listening to Ruby's quiet gasps. After a while, she remembered what her original objective had been and bit down. Hard.

"Ouch!" Ruby yelped as Weiss quickly jumped up and off the bed. Ruby rolled and landed on the floor facedown with a thump making Blake roll over with her pillow.

"Now come on, we've got a mission to get to." Weiss almost laughed at the conflict on Ruby's face as she was helped up. Weiss noted that no tears were present in Ruby's eyes meaning hurt wasn't one of them. Ruby nodded and grumpily went over to the clothes she'd set aside and entered the washroom while she grumbled about Weiss biting her.

Weiss tried to calm herself down as she waited for Ruby to change. Once Ruby finished, she took her place in the washroom and changed. Once done, she splashed ice cold water into her face to calm herself down. A part of her still was wondering exactly what had come over her to do something like that to Ruby. But another part of her, one that scared her a bit, asked why she hadn't done much, much more. Weiss decided there would be time to contemplate these thoughts later, especially considering they had to go catch the airship.

Upon exiting the washroom, she watched as Ruby hoisted her backpack onto her back and Weiss quickly did the same. The two walked to the storage lockers to retrieve their weapons and that's when something Weiss hadn't thought of before struck her.

"Ruby, turn." Weiss ordered as she sheathed her weapon. Ruby had just closed her locker and turned her head in Weiss's direction questioningly. In response Weiss made a circular motion with her hand, making sure the seriousness on her face emphasized that there would be no objections. "All the way."

"If you really want me to." Ruby mumbled and turned so Weiss could clearly see what she had hoped she wouldn't. A large red mark peeked out of Ruby's neckline, the darker red of the bite clearly visible from two feet away.

Weiss felt a blush hit her full force and a wave of remorse strike not a split second later. She hung her head and clenched her hands together as she realized just how hard she'd actually bit Ruby.

"I'm sorry, I… don't know what came over me." Weiss whispered into the empty room. She flinched back as Ruby tried to reach out to her. "I promise I won't do that again."

"No." Ruby spoke as she quickly pulled Weiss into a hug. "Please do that again. Just… maybe not so hard."

Weiss pushed Ruby back and stared at her eyes in surprise as Ruby averted her eyes.

"I mean… I kinda liked it." Ruby's face started turning red again but she quickly shook her head and swooped in to give Weiss a small peck on the lips. "But we have time to talk on the trip. Let's go."

"Right…." Weiss nodded, still in a fair amount of shock at Ruby's confession. She had to force the new ideas that started popping up back into the dark recesses of her mind that they originated from as she followed Ruby to the aircraft that would take them to Mistral.

Once she boarded the craft, Weiss quickly settled herself in order to rest as much as possible before the mission. This much was the usual routine as Ruby often double-checked her scythe to ensure everything was working correctly. Weiss closed her eyes and tried to think of nothing as time ticked by. The coldness of the seat keeping her from truly falling asleep, but at least she wasn't using any energy.

After some time, she felt someone sit down beside her. She kept her eyes closed and her breathing regulated in case it wasn't Ruby, but she needn't have worried. Ruby leaned into her, using her shoulder as a pillow before breathing a sigh of contentment. Weiss thanked whatever supernatural beings that might exist that Ruby had been doing the same thing for most of their time at Beacon. Weiss had had a long talk with her father about boundaries and personal space and whether or not he should have a say in who partakes in hers. To say the least, she wasn't confident that her feelings for the girl attempting to sleep on her wouldn't cloud her argument with her father if she would have to repeat it now.

Dismissing the thought, Weiss instead thought back to earlier that morning. She tried to recreate her mental processes that had led from being Ruby's hug pillow to her coming very close to drawing blood with her teeth. She still felt bad about how she'd hurt her partner but there was nothing she could do about it now that she'd done what she had. All that was left was to ensure something like that didn't happen again.

 _The fact that it even happened in the first place is the issue._ Weiss reminded herself and went back to the beginning. She continued thinking over her thought process for several hours as they slowly made their way across the grimm infested territory between Vale and Mistral.

"Excuse me miss, we'll be arriving shortly. Please fasten your belt." Someone spoke above Weiss, and Ruby moved off her shoulder. The same voice continued repeating itself as it moved away farther down the isle. Weiss had kept her belt fastened in order to avoid being disturbed but soon found it difficult to return to her train of thought when the start of their mission was so close at hand.

Weiss opened her eyes and found Ruby waiting beside her as she expected. She was looking down and seemed to be deep in thought. Weiss waited a few moments and then decided to give Ruby's hand a quick squeeze to bring her back to reality.

"Oh, you're awake now?" Ruby asked as she looked up to Weiss's face. She seemed to be blushing a little as she spoke but didn't dwell on it. "Just so you're up to speed, Ozpin just sent us the location of the dead drop for the briefing. It seems to be about a kilometer into grimm territory to the north of the village."

"Alright." Weiss nodded, attempting to focus on the mission. "Terrain in the area isn't ideal due to the excessive swamp, but there has been a drought the last two years so the water levels have dropped considerably. Mud will still be the main concern though as well as the mist in the mornings, both of which help the local avian varieties of grimm stay concealed during movement and combat."

"Don't get stuck in the mud in the mornings, gotcha." Ruby summarized. "Also remember that there's those mosquito things in the area so we'll need to make sure to get some bug spray before heading out of the town."

"We already have netting for the tent so we should be fine if we get stuck outside for a night." Weiss added. "Not to mention we should be careful of the Mistral Anomaly that's supposedly near this area."

"Well, I don't believe those rumors, but we'll play it safe either way." Ruby said hesitantly. "After the grimm near where mom's grave is, I'm not sure how true this story is considering the lack of good information. Also my uncle warned me about some of the people here. They're not exactly star citizens."

Weiss slowly nodded her understanding as the speakers announced their arrival.

"Well, let's get going then. The mission isn't going to finish itself." Weiss pulled hers and Ruby's backpacks from the overhead compartment. Ruby caught hers and slipped it onto her back before reaching up for her weapon. Weiss placed her rapier on her hip and turned to Ruby who twirled her gun on her hand and placed it on her back to the applause of a young child who was watching them from a couple seats back.

"Let's go!" Ruby pumped her fist in the air and led the way out of the aircraft and onto the dirt of the landing pad. Only two other people followed them off before the craft took back to the air to complete it's flight to the capital of Haven.

* * *

Weiss pushed open the door to the rundown tavern that she'd found in the small village where they were to receive the information for their mission. The only problem was that it hadn't been there yet. As usual, this meant a delay or issue and that the informant, whoever that was, would deliver it some time later. By the normal protocols, they were supposed to check the drop point daily until they either received the details or their mission was canceled.

"What do you want?" The man who was both the bartender and innkeeper asked gruffly as if he didn't want anything to do with Weiss. Weiss had been hesitant to come here alone, but was even more so when she imagined Ruby having to deal with the bar full of men. She noted that she was quite literally the only woman there.

"I want a room, and two of whatever type of food isn't… poisonous." Weiss said the second half of her statement as she wrinkled her nose in disgust at the dirt present on the counter. If it was any indication of the kitchen, then she knew that her and Ruby might just be better off using their rations. Unfortunately, they didn't know how long this mission would run meaning they had to keep everything they could until they had no choice but to use it.

The bartender snorted. "No rooms open. Go someplace else."

Weiss had a feeling of someone coming up behind her and she rested her hand on the hilt of her weapon just in case she needed it. The feeling soon passed as the man came to sit a few seats away at the bar with his tankard. Weiss waited stubbornly in front of the man as he shifted from foot to foot. It was almost obvious he was lying, but why he felt the need to, Weiss could only guess.

"I'd get out of here if I were you, and I'd do it quick." He hissed as he turned to place a glass on the bar and reached down to pick up a bottle of alcohol.

A man sat down directly beside Weiss and nodded at the bartender who handed him his drink. The man downed it quickly and placed the glass upside down on the counter before eying Weiss out of the corner of his eye.

"I have a room for you, girl. Cheap too." He spoke quietly but shiftily from under a black hood that hid his face. Weiss noted the tattoo on his hand with a cartoon smile superimposed on a black coffin.

Sensing the trap, Weiss chose to follow the bartender's advice. But as she turned to get off her seat, the man grabbed on to her upper arm tightly, blocking her from drawing her weapon. She tried to shake him off but he only laughed at the attempt, everyone else in the bar ignoring or watching the scene with no interest to intervene.

"Let go of me." Weiss spoke clearly so there was no doubt about what she wanted.

"Or what?" He asked with a mirthless bark of laughter.

"This." Weiss summonned a glyph around his wrist and punched the back of his hand with her free hand. She hit the tendon hard enough and he released her while she drew her rapier.

The glyph shattered as he made a fist and the bottom of his face poked out from under his hood. "Brought a knife to a gunfight, girly. Too bad you had to fight."

Weiss quickly dodged as he drew a white chromed pistol from under his cloak and fired a shot that missed her but hit another patron dead between the eyes. Weiss dodged again, as another shot barely scraped past her cheek, leaving a tiny scrape where the heated lead had barely missed. She fell to the floor and closed her eyes as she knew it was all about to be over. A third shot rang out and when Weiss didn't feel anything, she looked up to see the man holding the smoking remains of his pistol's grip. The murmurs in the rest of the bar as everyone started looking at the newcomer were something Weiss had only heard in movies as the patrons all started whispering what she could only guess was a name to each other.

"Izanami." They all whispered as if awestruck as Weiss looked around to find Ruby with her weapon in it's compact form. Her hood was up around her head, blocking her face from the dim light of the tavern, leaving nothing but shadow where her face would be. She even wore black gloves making it seem as if she may have been made of shadows beneath the clothing.

"The hell do you think you are?" Weiss's assailant asked indignantly. He quickly reached for a second gun but paused as Ruby extended her scythe, letting it loop effortlessly around her and rested it in her ready position. Weiss noticed she'd been eying the second pistol in the man's belt and understanding dawned that this was now a standoff.

"It is Izanami!" One man said loudly enough for the entire bar to hear in the now dead silence. Suddenly the sound of movement rustled as no less than half the bar left their chairs to bow on their knees.

"She's no god." The assailant laughed as he stood. "I'll prove it."

Faster than Weiss could blink, the man drew his gun but the shot that fired wasn't his. Weiss's eyes followed the path of falling rose petals as she took in what had happened.

The body of the man fell into a growing pool of blood. His head cleanly severed and falling through the air to land near his hand that still gripped his pistol. Ruby's scythe dripped red as proof of the deed before she swung it to clean the blood while transforming it back into it's compact form. She replaced it at her back and turned back to Weiss offering her hand. Weiss took it and pulled herself up, careful to avoid the red puddle at their feet.

"One room." Ruby spoke to the bartender in the silent room.

"S-sure." He stammered, quickly placing a key on the counter. Ruby swiped it and started heading towards the staircase without another word.

"Bring the food up." Weiss told him while she dropped a few lien on the counter as she followed Ruby, not wanting to be left in the place alone.

Ruby was already opening a door when Weiss turned into the hall that branched off into the rooms. She quickly followed through the door into the dark room. She closed the door and turned the deadbolt before turning to see what the room housed. She didn't get the chance.

Ruby crashed into her, her head burying into her jacket while Ruby's arms weakly gripped her shoulders. The sounds of her quick breathing interrupted by the hitches Weiss knew all too well. It was the sound she'd made the previous day in the halls of Beacon. Weiss knew there was nothing she could say, so she did the only thing she knew to do. She wrapped Ruby in her arms and held her as she shook while slowly moving to the bed. More than an hour passed before Ruby fell asleep, the food had been left in the hallway much earlier but Weiss didn't move from the embrace of her partner, feeling that if she just held on, everything might just be alright.


	10. Capitulation I

**A/N:**

 **I'm so sorry for not updating this (or anything for that matter) for so long. I'll keep my explanation of my absence brief: laptop warranty, pile of work, the big brother and fat cousin to that pile, new jobs, and general life.**

 **If any of that didn't make sense, don't worry. I'll be updating everything at least once before Friday, and will also be posting a new story that I started while my hard drive was on vacation.**

 **And to the reviewers who thought the last chapter was a little off... I understand your point, but I assure you that there is method to the madness. Also: this isn't supposed to be one of those happy, idyllic romances. Remnant is a dangerous world. And despite being trained, they're still fairly new to experiencing its cruelty.**

 **Anyways, on a lighter note: This chapter is a little lighter and fluffier. Please enjoy!**

* * *

It was nearing the end of dawn as Weiss sat upon the floor, her recently closed scroll in her hands. This wasn't a common occurrence, but then again, neither were the events of the previous night. Even thinking about all that would come from their actions had been a set of thoughts Weiss found herself avoiding. Evidence of this was the mess of supplies she slowly packed back into their packs as if hoping that her teammate might wake before she was finished. The distraction wasn't near as potent as she'd wished.

Ruby had cried in her arms until a little less than five hours previously as Weiss tried in vain to calm the storm that had burst forth in Ruby's eyes. Even now after Ruby had long fallen asleep, she sat awake because of the tortured and haunted look behind those usually joyful silver orbs. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd see visions of the body falling to the ground or of the pain behind Ruby's eyes as she coughed and gagged herself hoarse over the waste basket that was the only luxury the room housed other than the single bed she now slept on. And all of that was Weiss's own fault.

She forcibly stopped her train of thought there before she made herself start to cry and tried to think of something, anything other than Ruby literally crying herself to sleep. She pushed that portion of the night to the side of her mind and recalled instead the first thing she'd done after Ruby'd fallen into the dead slumber that now kept her still.

It had taken her almost three hours to clean Ruby's weapon from all evidence of it's deed, the process made longer from the remorseful tears Weiss had shed as she accepted that the dark staining on the blades were her fault, and hers alone. If she'd been faster, if she'd been stronger, if she had used a different tactic… she would have spared Ruby the torment of taking another's life. But she wasn't fast enough. Nor was she strong enough, and she'd used a tactic that had come to her in the moment of crisis. But these weren't any excuses that she'd accept. She was in her final semester at Beacon Academy, the leading school on Remnant for training hunters and huntresses, and she was also at the top of her class in everything except her sparring record. Getting knocked down by an assailant and nearly getting killed was a failure larger than every failure she could possibly imagine, except it wasn't. She'd failed at the one thing more important than that.

She'd failed her promise to be Ruby's best teammate. She'd forced her hand to intervene in a fight that wasn't hers and by doing so, forced her to take another's life. That blood, though it fell on Ruby's hands, stained hers deeper than she could have possibly imagined.

She already knew that there was little chance for an inquiry to be filed about the incident, and was relieved that she wouldn't need to relive the incident to get her partner acquitted. Although she knew better than to hope against reliving the night one more time when the headmaster debriefed them at the conclusion of their mission. And she feared what her dreams would show her when she inevitably fell into sleep.

She carefully replaced the bag holding the cleaning equipment back by the wall and slowly looked over at her teammate, hoping that her sleep was quiet and restful. Ruby hadn't moved at all since she'd rolled over and placed her open hand on Weiss's shoulder as if just that small contact was enough to bring her comfort. Her eyes were still behind their lids and her breathing came in slow, deep breaths, confirming that she actually slept and Weiss found herself wishing with every fiber of her being that Ruby would awake and help her move past the self-imposed hell she'd created in her mind. But though the people bowing to her had thought her a demon, Weiss only looked upon an angel.

Izanami, they had called her. The fear of the people penetrating the air had left a lasting impression on Weiss and she couldn't honestly blame them. One thing she'd learned in her time at Beacon was the reason hunters and huntresses were feared. When they fought for real, they were more terrifying than most grimm, and that's no easy level to reach.

In the remaining time as she waited patiently for morning, she'd researched the name Ruby had been called. She only finished her research a few minutes ago, and could tell why the people would be afraid, if not terrified of the cloaked girl.

According to Mystralian lore, Izanami was a goddess of both creation and death. Weiss had come across a picture that had frozen her blood as she'd taken in the details. It was an old painting set in an obscure and dark forest, but the creature it depicted was one Weiss had seen many times over her time at Beacon. A shrouded figure with a bright red hood, precisely the same shade as Ruby's, but with the features beneath shrouded in dark shadows that made it impossible to tell of the appearance of the being beneath it. The limbs were all clad in black and the left hand held a scythe made of dark red fire. Once she'd moved past the shock of seeing the painting that was easily older than her grandfather, yet so similar to her partner, Weiss read the attached description that spoke of the goddess creating the swamps and all the life they housed. The god had been murdered by a messenger god who grew frustrated of traveling through the mud and become the caretaker of those who died within her swamp. As a tribute, her husband had created a place that was more dangerous than any other in the swamp in order to lure more souls to the underworld. The place of death had been well received by the goddess who soon sought to expand the region, until her powers were sealed by her husband who feared she'd become power hungry. Weiss hadn't needed to read further to know that this was the Mystral Anomaly that was marked on all maps of the region.

This distraction too, lasted only as long as it took to think through the information that she'd gathered. It didn't matter either way. Ruby was no vengeful god, no matter what others chose to believe.

She turned to look at her partner, to ensure she was resting peacefully. The calm look on Ruby's face seemed to help with her stress levels. Ruby's cheeks were puffed out slightly and her lips parted in a manner that made Weiss want to brush them with her own. Ruby's breathing was slow and soft, a peaceful rest that Weiss prayed wasn't plagued with images of horror.

If she was being honest with herself, Weiss wanted to end the mission now to just cut their losses, but she didn't want to give her father yet another reason to withdraw her from Beacon. Not that she could predict what he had planned, since she'd expected him to say something… anything really, but he had yet to even send her a message on her scroll. Though she wasn't entirely sure she was within range of the nearest CCT tower so it was quite possible that he had already.

Weiss sighed and leaned her head back against the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Paint was crumbling off and there was a water stain near the corner, but there was nothing else to look at, so she just stared as she felt her eyelids finally pulling themselves down over her eyes. She didn't want to sleep, she wanted to be there the second Ruby awoke to make sure she was okay. But she'd been awake for so long she could no longer keep that need at bay.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby." She mumbled as her consciousness faded into darkness.

* * *

Weiss's eyes snapped open as a groan was barely stopped at her lips. Her neck had a kink in it and her back hurt from sitting on the hard wood floor for so long. Ruby seemed to have shifted onto her back, leaving her hand on Weiss's shoulder but otherwise seemed no different than when Weiss had last checked.

Weiss noticed that with Ruby's new position, there was a spot on the bed large enough for her to fit and slowly stood as her blood rushed into her cramped limbs. She carefully ensured that Ruby wouldn't wake by keeping her hand on her shoulder as it had gripped tighter when she'd first stood. Weiss slowly started to carefully crawl over Ruby to the open side of the bed. She only made it half way.

Ruby's eyes snapped open in a panic. She tightened her grip on Weiss's shoulder as she realized where they were and the ghost of her dream faded. As it did, tears appeared in Ruby's eyes and Weiss didn't make any move to continue. She knew how it would look with her hovering over Ruby the way she was but didn't bother to care because Ruby didn't seem to either. What the girl needed was someone who could simply be there for her, and at the moment Weiss was the only one who could fill that requirement.

"Shh…" She leaned down and gently kissed away the tears before they started to fall down Ruby's face. "Everything's okay."

Ruby nodded and pulled Weiss close, letting out a shaky breath then several more as she pulled herself back from the brink of tears.

"I'm sorry." Ruby mumbled into Weiss's ear at length. Weiss waited, knowing Ruby had to get whatever demon had possessed her out in the open. "It's all my fault."

"No. Don't even start on that idea." Weiss whispered back quickly and strongly, hoping to let Ruby know with the conviction in her voice that there was nothing to apologize for. Ruby slowly released Weiss and rested her arms at her sides.

Weiss pushed herself up so she could look into Ruby's face but she'd turned to the side, her eyes trained at the blank wall next to the bed. Ruby seemed to have zoned out so Weiss bent to give her a gentle kiss on her cheek, hopeful that the contact would help bring back a semblance of her partner.

"Don't do that." Ruby's voice rang out gravelly as she stiffened at the touch. Weiss had no intention of obeying the command and repeated her action. "I said stop!"

Ruby pushed Weiss up, keeping her arm stiff so Weiss wouldn't close the space between them. Weiss waited patiently as Ruby's breathing started to calm once again.

"Why?"

This whispered question froze any remaining movement in Ruby. Making her turn slowly to Weiss in confusion.

"I'm a murderer. I don't deserve this… this…" Ruby lost her ability to form words as she lost herself in Weiss's eyes.

"No Ruby. You're the farthest thing from that." Weiss breathed, forcing Ruby's hand off her shoulder so she could close the space between them. This time she rested her weight on her girlfriend so she wouldn't get pushed away again if Ruby still wanted to argue. "It was me or him. You're my savior… my _hero_ , Ruby."

Weiss closed the remaining space and after a moment, Ruby relented into the gentle pressure of Weiss's lips. Weiss pulled away even wishing she didn't have to. _But business before pleasure_.

"He was going to kill me when you stepped in. And if you didn't kill him, he would have killed you too." Weiss knew her words sounded hollow, trying to justify the extinction of a life, but there really was no way to do that. "If the roles were reversed, I… I would have done the same thing."

"But-" Ruby was silenced by another quick peck.

"Ruby… even if I have to remind you every day, remember that you saved my life, not how you did it." Weiss felt horrible that Ruby had to get involved. Now it was her duty to put everything right. "You… are the only one who puts a real value on me that has nothing to do with my family…. But I want you to know that because of that… I owe you more than I could ever even start to repay."

"You don't-"

"Yes, I do." Weiss argued, already knowing Ruby's argument. "And I will, even if that means…. Even if that means going against my father to do it."

"Weiss… what are you saying?" Ruby asked in a hush.

"What I'm saying is…" Weiss hesitated, wondering exactly what she wanted, and where she was going with the conversation. She was sitting at the verge of two paths her life could take. One large and open, the other narrow and restrictive. It was finally obvious to her which one she should take. "I've decided what I want to do after this mission. I want to stay at Beacon, whatever that entails, and become a huntress… with you."

"But what about-"

"They don't matter." Weiss cut Ruby off harshly. "Listen, I don't know what's going to happen when we get back. But you… I'll fight to stay with you. I know it's not much and it's only a start, but… I promise to you that I won't willingly leave you. You're the most important person in my life, Ruby. I… you've shown me how much you care, and all I want to do is show you how much you mean to me."

Ruby's jaw hung open. She'd only heard Weiss use any sort of promise once before, and had been informed that promises were the most important value in her family. It meant that no matter what, Weiss would carry it out no matter what the consequences were and no matter what lengths she had to go to make it happen. It meant that Weiss had basically just sworn her loyalty to Ruby like a knight to a kingdom, no… it was even more than that. It was like a ninja assassin swearing loyalty to a single master. _Okay, I'm definitely not reading Blake's books again…_

"Listen, I know it's not exactly the best guarantee you'll ever get, but its what I can do for now. And-"

Ruby shook her head to clear it and then met Weiss's lips in a kiss she knew wouldn't even start to describe how happy she felt. All the thoughts of the previous night dulled into the back of her mind as Weiss pulled her close, forgetting the words still on the tip of her tongue as Ruby caught it with her own. She could feel the arguments Weiss had presented clicking into place within her as she accepted them one by one with a small gasp of air each time. Yes, she'd killed another person. No, it hadn't been murder. Yes, there hadn't truly been any other options. And yes, he'd been a murderer first. She'd killed a murderer, much like the justice systems in the capital cities. Much like the hunters that were sent out to find the most dangerous of said criminals, she'd only protected what was important. She'd protected her team, her partner, her girlfriend, herself, and who knows how many others if the man was left to his own devices.

Weiss broke the kiss, pushing Ruby back down into the bed. She was breathing heavily and Ruby saw the battle taking place behind her eyes, but paid it no mind. She was too happy at the moment. After a few calming breaths, Weiss removed herself from the position so they could sit up. Ruby took Weiss's hands and leaned into her, fitting her head on the heiress's shoulder. And she finally realized one thing she hadn't before.

"You shouldn't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." Ruby mumbled.

"What?" Weiss sounded surprised. "What makes you think I can't?"

"You can't just ignore your father." Ruby replied. "Last time I checked, he had you under his thumb."

Weiss blanched. She took a deep breath, ready to tell Ruby just how serious she'd been. "I can guarantee my family will not like it when we go public with our relationship. And yes, I plan to do so when we get back as long as you're okay with it. I have enough personal savings invested to pay for the remaining time at Beacon, so I don't have to worry about if they withdraw their financial support. In other words, they might disown me Ruby. But I'm prepared for that. I've been prepared for a long time already. And if that means I get to stay with you, then I'll welcome it as well. Because if all I am to them is some figurehead for the company, I'd rather not deal with them at all. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but I can do it…. _We_ can do it."

The silence that followed was comfortable. There wasn't anything either girl had to say and simply the presence of the other repaired the atmosphere of security that had been so badly damaged after the previous days. After a few moments, Weiss felt she needed to voice the question that she felt she knew the answer to already.

"Will you be okay?"

It took a while but Ruby finally responded by taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "I will be, as long as you'll be there."

Weiss simply nodded and the two returned to their silence, simply drawing comfort from the silence. They remained cuddled together for a long time, each in their own thoughts about the future. When the sound of another hour passing sounded from the town clock down the street, Ruby sighed and stood while offering her hand to Weiss.

"Come on, let's get this thing done so we can get out of this hole." Ruby grinned, knowing full well that they'd both spent nights in worse conditions than this.

"As you wish, Izanami." Weiss couldn't block the thought and the giggle that escaped before she realized, making Ruby freeze.

"Wait… do _you_ know why everyone's acting creepy to me?" Ruby's eyes were wide and her tone imperative. Weiss couldn't help smiling a little at the resurgence of the energetic Ruby that she loved best. "I went to buy the bug spray and people kept randomly bowing and then the guy at the counter gave it to me for free. Then the whole bar last night…"

"Well, you do look _identical_ like a famous artwork of a local deity." Weiss took Ruby's hand and stood to wrap her in a quick hug. "To be honest, I was surprised."

"Um… what do you mean?" Ruby deadpanned.

"It's actually quite accurate, considering it was painted so long ago." Weiss smiled, knowing Ruby still didn't completely get what she was saying. "Ms. Reaper."

"Oh… Ohhh!" Ruby finally picked up on the concept and gave Weiss's shoulder a smack as she started laughing. "That's just stupid. Who would think I'm a grim reaper?"

"Well you sure did an excellent impersonation last night." Weiss commented before quickly looking to Ruby hoping she hadn't made a mistake. Her smile faded for a second before returning slightly brighter than before as she squeezed Weiss's hand.

"Thinking about it, I really did didn't I?" Ruby laughed as she picked her weapon off the nearby table and placed it on her back. "Let's hope I don't need to repeat it."

"I'm with you there. And it sort of helps the likeness that you are actually a huntress with a scythe." Weiss nodded before picking up the backpacks. If the information was at the dead drop today, they wouldn't need to return to this inn. She did a quick survey to make sure she'd put everything they'd brought back and nodded before joining her partner out in the hall.

Ruby was looking at her with a peculiar look as she exited the room and locked the door behind her. She tilted her head in question while raising her eyebrows, asking silently what Ruby was thinking.

"Sorry… I was just kind of wondering how I ever got so lucky to get you of all people." Ruby mumbled with a blush.

Weiss almost laughed but held it in. "Well… I had a choice between you and Jaune… I might be a good teacher, but I'm not a miracle worker like Pyrrha. Not to mention you did make quite the first impression."

"Come on, stop it!" Ruby cried as Weiss once again dragged up the memory of their first meeting. Weiss circled around Ruby as she held her face in her hands while willing the blush to fade. Weiss leaned in close over her shoulder so her breath ghosted past her partners ear.

"At least if you want to _get_ me now… all you have to do is ask…" Weiss whispered before stepping quickly away from a stunned Ruby. And starting to run down the stairs. "And catch me!"

Ruby snapped out of her state with a shake of her head, knowing her face must have been glowing bright red with all the blood she felt rushing to it. "Weiss! Come back here!"

"Nope!" Weiss called back, her voice already distant as Ruby ran to catch up.

"You are _so_ going to get it!" Ruby replied as her semblance carried her down the stairs in an instant. Weiss was already at the door and waving as she ran off. Ruby grinned and chased her out into the town, keeping her semblance in check so she could enjoy the chase. _Maybe this mission isn't going to be so bad after all._

* * *

Wrong. She was so wrong it hurt. Literally.

Ruby's legs complained as she pulled her mud covered leg out of the ground yet again, just to have it sink back in with the next step. Beside her, Weiss faced similar troubles but at least her shoes provided less resistance when she had to pull them out, not to mention that she had actual muscle in her legs unlike Ruby who relied on her semblance for speed where Weiss didn't have that luxury.

"How much farther?" Ruby whined for not the first time in the last few minutes causing Weiss to sigh.

"Probably not much less than when I answered you last time." She answered with a grunt as she pulled a foot out and wobbled as she tried to keep her balance. "But I think I see the path up ahead."

"I told you we should have gone around." Ruby complained, also not for the first time.

"I already said I was sorry. I didn't think it would be this deep." Weiss grumbled as she fought to pull herself forward. "Be happy it's not quicksand."

"Right." Ruby scoffed. "We passed three patches of that already, remember?"

"Just shut up and keep going." Weiss grumbled as she moved forward, widening the gap between the two girls.

"Be happy there aren't any grimm around right now!" Ruby replied as she tried to move, her distressed leg muscles screaming at her as she pulled her foot out of the suction of the bog. She stood while trying to keep her balance on one leg when she had an idea. "Weiss!"

"What now?" Weiss turned her head to look back at Ruby.

"I want you to help me get up there." Ruby replied, pointing at the tree she was passing. The swamp wasn't a forest by any means, but it did have a lot of trees scattered across it with large, stable-looking branches.

"Why?" Was the response as Weiss kept moving slowly away.

"Because I think I have a good idea." Ruby replied to a sigh from Weiss.

"Fine, where do you want to go?" She asked as she turned to focus a glyph beside Ruby so she could climb out of the bog.

"Second layer of branches." Ruby replied as she drew her weapon.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Weiss asked and received a sly grin from her partner. "Up you go."

Weiss released the glyph as Ruby launched skyward, her weapon transforming as she flipped herself into an arc. Weiss noticed Ruby's goal and started quickly trying to move as Ruby's scythe bit into wood creating a very loud crack before her shot rang out to push the blade the rest of the way though. Weiss fell to her left as the large branch fell inches to her right, creating a large splash of the stinking substance they were wading through.

Coughing and now completely covered in mud, Weiss picked herself up and dragged herself onto the branch that was now lying at the surface of the mud but not sinking. Weiss looked around for her partner and found her splashing around where she'd fallen into the mud seemingly head first. Weiss sighed as she quickly moved to grab onto Ruby's hand which was the closest to the branch and pulled her up until she was lying sideways on the branch, mud dripping from her face as she spit and coughed to catch her breath.

"You complete dolt!" Weiss reprimanded her as Ruby continued to try to get the substance of the terrain out of her mouth. "Do you have any idea how close you came to killing me?"

Ruby shuddered and wiped the mud off most of her face with muddier hands that honestly didn't do too much. She looked up at Weiss still gasping.

"But I didn't!" She argued stubbornly.

"But never mind me! You were lucky you didn't knock me out otherwise you'd be drowning right now!" Weiss continued her rant. "People die in these swamps, Ruby!"

"I know that, Weiss!" Ruby replied, mimicking her tone of voice. "And unless you can help me get Crescent Rose in the next ten seconds, you better do something about those Griffons!"

Weiss turned and noticed the standard pack of four of the avian grimm flying through the sky in their direction. Weiss judged there to be a few seconds before they'd come within her range but a few more before she could guarantee their kills. She pulled up a glyph with one hand, using an ice dust cartridge from her belt to add a freezing effect to it and quickly ran her hand over Ruby's head.

"OW!" Ruby yelled as Weiss's hand ripped a knot out of her clumping hair. She then quickly covered her head with her hands as she watched Weiss roll her eyes.

Weiss turned back to the grimm who were all flying in a tight formation towards them. Weiss almost laughed as they closed the fifteen meter mark. She flicked her dripping, mud covered hand quickly in the direction of her glyph. The mud froze into sharp solid shards as it passed through, taking on a coating of ice which exploded into fragments on contact with the flying creatures, literally tearing them to shreds and sending what was left of their corpses into the swamp just under five meters in front of the huntresses. Weiss let her glyph fall with an exhausted sigh and turned back to Ruby.

"There. Happy now?" She asked as she reached down and broke a small but long branch off of the large one Ruby'd cut off. She hooked it's bend onto the handle of Ruby's scythe and with a quick pull, it was within Ruby's reach. Ruby took her weapon up and quickly shook it off before returning it to her back.

"I'm not unhappy." Ruby said, her voice implying a repressed laugh.

Weiss stared at her for a few seconds and sighed to herself more than anything. She turned around and looked around at the endless bog around them. Off in the distance, barely visible through the slight remnants of the morning fog was the path they were aiming for. Weiss looked up at the next tree and mapped the quickest path through the long branches to the path. Jumping through them would be no problem but she was weary of using too much energy before they'd even received their assignment.

"You're thinking about it too, aren't you?" Ruby whispered with a smug tone in Weiss's ear, making her spin. Ruby didn't move back, keeping her face almost too close for comfort as she waited patiently for Weiss's response.

"Get away from me, you stink!" Weiss smiled as she took a step back onto her glyph that she used to propel herself up into the branches of the next tree.

"You stink too!" Ruby argued, as she jumped while using her weapon's recoil to push her up to the branch Weiss was walking down. Ruby covertly admired Weiss as she walked down the branch. Her small heels in combination with the relatively narrow branch did marvelous things with her posterior that Ruby felt was borderline illegal.

"Ruby, I'm up here." Weiss smirked as she jumped to another branch. Ruby winced that the first time she'd actually taken the time to admire that side of Weiss, she'd been noticed. Ruby mumbled something Weiss couldn't make out but could easily guess. "And if I make it to the path first, you owe me anything I want."

Ruby's ears perked her head up out of her embarrassment. Weiss never exactly made bets, but this was about as close as it came, meaning she wasn't actually too angry. Either that or she was furious. Ruby figured either way it would work out as it always did, so she replied as she usually did. "And if I win?"

"A-ny-thing." Weiss smirked, enunciating each syllable as she jumped to the next tree making Ruby realize she was already behind.

"Wait up!" Ruby cried as Weiss ran off, jumping from tree to tree as she went.

Ruby sprinted as fast as she could without losing her balance as she followed Weiss's path. She used bursts of her semblance in places to help but she was only coming even with Weiss when she lost her footing and slipped off the branch and fell on her back into the mud below. Weiss landed on the ground about a meter away and turned back to Ruby with a long stick already held in her hands.

Ruby sighed and grabbed on to it as Weiss pulled her out of the mud and onto the solid path. "You win. What-?"

"You'll see." Weiss replied, already walking off. "We've still got this mission to do."

"Right. Where is the drop again?" Ruby asked. The audible sigh she received in response didn't do anything to help her move from where she was lying, staring at the sky.

"Here." Weiss dropped a medium sized wood box onto Ruby's stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs at the unexpected impact. She rolled over and coughed for a second before Weiss collapsed beside her with a yawn. "I'm exhausted."

"Same here." Ruby replied as she quickly opened the latch on the box's lid. Inside was a simple folder and towel. "At least they were nice enough to give us this."

She wiped the now drying mud from her face and hair as best she could before cleaning her hands and passing the unused half of the towel to her partner who mirrored her albeit with some more difficulty due to her long hair. Ruby opened the file and started reading as Weiss continued trying to get her white hair back to some semblance of it's natural color.

"Well, this was a waste of time." Ruby grumbled, collapsing onto her back and rubbing her fists into her eyes.

"Don't tell me-"

"Yup. Back where we came from… and about two kilometers east." Ruby cut her off. "I seriously have to rethink our training routines for this place."

"Don't beat yourself up too much." Weiss replied much to the surprise of Ruby. "I honestly don't think anything will really help other than actual experience walking through knee deep mud."

"But-" Ruby stopped speaking as she felt a warm breath against her lips. She didn't think twice and leaned up from the ground to meet Weiss's kiss that lasted forever yet passed in a blink of an eye. Ruby sat up as Weiss sat back on her heels, suddenly feeling much more energized.

"Let's get this done, and after we get back to Beacon let's go on that date you wanted to take me for." Weiss had been waiting to use this as a last resort, but at this point she was done with this mission. She'd go with Ruby to that stupid arcade she wanted to visit as long as it meant less procrastination before the lactic acid settled itself too firmly in her limbs.

"You really mean it?" Ruby jumped up and spun around happily. "Alright! And I promise you'll have fun!"

"I'm sure at least one of us will." Weiss replied cryptically as she took Ruby's offered hand. "As long as we get it done before the end of today, that is."

Ruby looked up at the sky. The sun indicated it was somewhere just before noon. It would take a few hours to backtrack and then head out to the target. She estimated it would be nightfall before they returned to the town, meaning it would likely be the next day before they were able to catch a transport to the capital to return to Beacon. Ruby wrapped one arm around Weiss's shoulders in a sort of sideways hug as she waved her hand across the horizon.

"Trust me, Weiss. When we go to the arcade overmorrow, you're going to have so much fun you'll be like 'I love Ruby and I'm gonna take her to the arcade all the time!'" Ruby said in a bad imitation of Weiss's voice.

"First, I do _not_ sound like that!" Weiss stepped away from Ruby, keeping her back turned. "Second, I'll most likely _never_ want to return to another arcade for a _long_ time. And third…"

Ruby's face had fallen as Weiss turned back to see her starting to mope.

"I'm honestly shocked that you even know what overmorrow means. So maybe this arcade of yours will surprise me too." Weiss grinned as she started jumping back into the tree. Once she was up, she turned and summoned a glyph for Ruby. The girl smiled and stepped on. She caught Weiss's arm for balance as she landed on the relatively thin branch with a smile.

 _Definitely never going to get tired of this._ Ruby thought as she followed Weiss back the way they'd come, jumping from tree to tree as they made their way to their target.


	11. Responsibility I

"So… I'm not sure how much this mission was thought out, but how are we going to find this guy in the middle of a forest?" Ruby asked as she led Weiss through a relatively dry area of the swamp. The ground, once marshy was now hard and brittle under their feet. The only evidence of it being part of the marsh, the dead or dying plants that still sprouted from the dirt.

"I can't believe you have a point." Weiss mumbled under her breath as she trudged along. The hours they'd spent battling the swamp had left her mood in a somewhat dampened state, but at least they hadn't had to deal with any large grimm yet. In fact, the entire area seemed to be relatively free of the creatures barring the odd creep or small gatherings of the avian varieties.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, her voice saying just how much Weiss had failed to keep her voice unheard. Weiss internally sighed but froze when she heard something in the forest. Or rather, a lack of something.

"Ruby, shh… listen." Weiss hissed, bringing Ruby to an abrupt halt.

Ruby stood still for a moment, meeting Weiss's eyes questioningly. "I don't hear anything…"

"I know. Even the bugs aren't making noise." Weiss replied uncertainly. She concentrated carefully on her aura to test the surrounding area and found what she could only identify as a dark shadow of… something. The foreign aura poisoned the air, undoubtedly causing the sudden silence. And it was moving.

"It's coming this way, we have to move. Now!" Ruby jumped into action, pulling Weiss who was still holding her arm along with her.

Ruby drew her scythe and carefully rested it against the trunk of a large tree as Weiss crouched behind a nearby bush as the two focused on keeping their own auras hidden while tracking the incoming presence. The feeling was odd though. Weiss had practiced tracking with her aura fairly regularly in the past years but right now it felt different. The aura was too… clouded. It was as if it wasn't actually there… or as if it was in more than one place at the same time.

"Ruby…" Weiss spoke in a whisper just loud enough for her partner to hear. "I'm going to move. Stay where you are."

Ruby flexed her thumb off the grip of her rifle in a gesture that told Weiss she understood her motive. Weiss slowly rotated the cylinder of her weapon to the green vial of dust so it would look to anyone watching as if she were simply impatient. As she did so, she tensed her leg muscles. The second she felt the cylinder lock into place, she dove behind her partner while twisting and throwing up a glyph which she infused with the green dust that she fired out of her weapon.

She was immediately gratified by what was essentially an explosion as the glyph knocked whatever round was fired out of the air and into the ground as the wind dust activated in a blast. The mud and water exploded skyward creating a mask for their movement as Ruby pulled her back to her feet and swung her around the tree as she quickly scoped through her weapon and scanned the scenery.

"No ID!" Ruby called before diving to the side behind the tree and ducking next to Weiss as something moving incredibly fast literally ripped right through the tree where their heads would have been.

"What the hell was that?" Weiss cursed as she jumped with the assistance of her glyph to the next tree that looked somewhat suitable to provide cover. She peeked out of the side and caught a glimpse of a shadow about a hundred meters out as it swung out from behind a tree. "Found him!"

"Keep moving!" Ruby rushed past Weiss, scooping her up in the process as the tree she was standing behind exploded and a geyser of mud exploded into the air and froze where she'd just been. "The ammo uses dust."

"You don't say?" Weiss asked sarcastically. Ruby giggled as she let her partner down as the ground in front of them exploded. The round didn't seem to have any dust effects and Weiss took a quick glance to see what she could only call a large ball of metal in the hole. "Don't get hit."

"Really, well there goes plan b." Ruby giggled as she fired off three rounds in quick succession, punching holes through a tree at three different heights. The fifty calibre rounds were not as powerful as the cannon ammunition they were being shot at with but it was more than enough to go through a couple feet of solid wood.

"Let's close this gap!" Weiss said as she pulled up a glyph to block another round from hitting Ruby. Her glyph shattered on impact and Ruby just barely moved out of the way as it flew past.

"I can get behind that idea." She agreed while chambering another round. "Felt the wind off that one."

Weiss ran forward, using her glyphs to give herself better footing as Ruby followed with her semblance. She was already formulating a strategy as they moved, incoming rounds had slowed significantly as Weiss noted their attacker seemed hesitant to waste ammunition which indicated a lack of reserve rounds. But the sheer size of the rounds said that close combat would undoubtedly end poorly for them. Well, at least her. Ruby's speed with her sharp blade might be a fair deterrent but only until she took a hit. That meant they would have to keep things at a close range but far enough to manoeuvre around the shots he would inevitably take at them at such a point blank range.

Weiss watched Ruby dodge yet another round as it sailed into the tree behind her and Weiss almost didn't move as a round flew past herself. She chastised herself for being so concerned for Ruby and turned her focus back on the dark figure who kept dodging back behind a tree after every round he fired, giving them almost no chance to see exactly what he looked like.

Ruby started firing rounds with amazing accuracy at the tree with her collapsed scythe. Weiss could barely make out the slight pinging of the rounds hitting metal behind the explosive firing and the crunching of the tree's wood getting destroyed.

"He's got armour. Probably plate or heavier." Weiss yelled as she used one last glyph to launch herself skyward into an ark that would put her in the tree the enemy was using to hide.

"Got it!" Ruby used her scythe to cut down the tree which started falling as Weiss landed on it's trunk with her feet and launched back off it, sending it crashing down where their enemy was standing.

No sooner than it had started racing toward the ground, the bottom of the trunk exploded as another cannon ball ripped through the trunk and send the small bit of the end flying toward Ruby who ducked under it and fired off another round before dodging to the side.

Their enemy was finally visible to Weiss and what she saw was horrifying. The man, if you could call him that, was standing in what looked to be a giant suit of metal much like an Atlesian Paladin, except it was only eight feet tall instead of the twelve foot mechanical hulks that were popular artillery choices for high risk missions. The metal seemed to be molded around a person with no clear way to enter or exit the suit, giving Weiss reason to believe that there might not be a way to remove it. That would mean it would have built in life support systems that could be compromised.

But before she could think more on that topic, the man's gun caught her attention and a thrill of fear ran through her. Strapped to one arm was what appeared to be a cannon that would have normally been mounted to a turret in a grimm defence post. A cannon made to take down Goliaths. The back of it had been modified heavily to attach to a wire track that fed ammunition out of what she could only assume was a backpack that had originally been filled with the massive balls of death. It was already half depleted, but there were at least twenty of the things left.

Weiss summoned a glyph and jumped off it straight at the ground to attack the dark brown shape of heavy armour. She switched to her burn dust and activated it just before she speared her target, sending a wave of heat to cushion her impact as their target slid away in the mud with a plate of his shoulder glowing red as heat radiated from it. He didn't even flinch.

He spun and fired the cannon at Weiss who deflected the inaccurate round with a glyph before freezing the ground beneath the man as Ruby raced up to his rear and attempted to damage the heavy armour that encased him. It didn't work and small little spikes folded open as they sparked with the effects of what could only be electric dust.

"Ruby NO!" Weiss shouted but it was too late as Ruby's scythe bit into the electric spikes and the resulting shock of an explosion sent her to her back as her muscles twitched as she tried to get her scythe to aim in the right direction in the hopes that the round she had chambered would actually do something against the large man.

A psychotic laugh echoed beneath the metal mask as the enemy turned to Ruby with his cannon. Weiss's world seemed to slow as her adrenaline kicked into high gear. She used her green dust on a glyph she summoned beneath her to boost her speed, and then activated her burn dust again as she drove her weapon deep into the man's shoulder of the arm that had the weapon mounted. His laughter was cut off abruptly with a curse as his free hand reached over and grabbed the white-haired huntress before throwing her down next to her partner.

Weiss landed on her back and pulled up a series of glyphs as the man fired a round. It landed on the glyph Weiss had placed at only a slight angle, causing it to deflect into the distance as it started crackling with electricity. She jumped to her feet and ran at the man, knowing Ruby would still need a moment to finish recovering from the electric shock.

She saw the hilt of her weapon still embedded in the man's shoulder and felt satisfied that at least she'd been able to pierce the armour. She moved into range and dodged the fist that flew at her head. She summoned a glyph beneath them both and sent them skyward with a twist.

The metal hulk seemed disoriented as it turned in the air, allowing Weiss to take the hilt of her weapon and pull it free. The man made a grunt as he landed upside down on the ground, the ammunition falling out of his loading mechanism as he collapsed onto his stomach.

Weiss landed with a fair amount more grace as Ruby unsteadily got to her feet. She shook out her arms and fired off a round that put a dent into the heavy metal as the two looked for weaknesses. They didn't have long as the man pushed himself up and fired a round at Ruby who dodged with a roll before firing a few more shots. Weiss noted that he still had three shots left as one of them was pulled into the rear of the weapon.

The man roared and took a step that shook the ground in Ruby's direction. Ruby immediately moved only to be blocked by a wall of dirt that had risen next to her. Weiss screamed as Ruby threw herself flat on the ground as the cannon ball flew over her and hit a tree which seemed to have been dead for a while as it exploded into large heavy chunks that flew everywhere.

Ruby was unlucky as she scrambled to her feet, taking a hard hit in her head from a large tree fragment. Seeing Ruby fall to the ground a second time made Weiss move on the attack to buy time even as more chunks of tree rained down around their opponent.

The man turned his attention to Weiss as Weiss could tell Ruby was out of commission. She attacked quickly, focusing on the joints to his weapon arm before switching once he started to defend them. Weiss counted down as she heard a clunk from the man's weapon which was promptly fired at her feet as she jumped back. The man seemed surprised that she'd dodged in the last possible moment, and equally surprised when she rushed through the geyser of dirt and sent her rapier through his neck.

Weiss huffed at the exertion of the fight as she listened to the man choke on his own blood. But listening more closely, it seemed almost as if he were still laughing through the choking noises. That was when Weiss heard the clunk of his weapon reloading and pulled up a glyph between the two of them as quickly as she could, pouring as much strength into the wall as possible before the cannon fired it's last shot.

Weiss watched as the glyph shattered and the world turned grey as it spun around her in a seemingly random pattern. A small part of her told her she had been in the air as she landed hard against a tree, knocking her head into the rough bark and allowing a burst of stars to join her darkened vision. She couldn't breathe as her vision swam and faded. But she was still able to make out their enemy falling on his back as Ruby slowly pushed herself up while clutching her head. Weiss watched through a tunnel as she sliced the mask off the suit of armour, nodding in approval before replacing her scythe at her back and turning to Weiss with wide eyes.

"…" Ruby's lips moved, but Weiss couldn't make anything out.

She tried to tell Ruby this but couldn't move her lips as her vision swam before her and faded to nothing.

* * *

" _-ohol. Weiss, if you can hear me, this is going to hurt."_

Weiss could barely make out Ruby's voice sounding like it was coming from underwater before the back of her head burned horribly. Then a sharp, stabbing pain erupted in her abdomen as she felt something cold and stiff enter her gut. She wanted to scream, but her body didn't respond to her commands. She felt her consciousness fade again as Ruby's voice, pleading her to stay with her, drifted back into the void.

* * *

" _Paging Dr. Hunts. Bay three, code blue."_

Weiss felt herself bump on some type of platform as air rushed by her. There was too much noise to tell what was happening or where she was going. All she knew was that she couldn't open her eyes and her body was on fire. Then she felt someone attach a mask to her face and her mind swam before falling back into nothingness.

* * *

 _Beep…_

 _Beep…_

 _Beep…_

 _Beep…_

Weiss woke to the sound of a steady digital beep that repeated on a fairly regular interval. She tried to remember what had happened, but all she could recall was the odd snippets she'd caught in between blacking out. Then she remembered what had happened and the machine started beeping so fast that it was almost whining.

She and Ruby had been fighting some man in armour and she could only remember Ruby getting hit with a piece of an exploding tree. She snapped her eyes open as noise suddenly rushed into her room and she took in two people in long white coats who rushed to the machinery next to her and one pulled out a syringe as she approached the intravenous bag.

Then she saw Ruby standing in the doorway, her face stained with tears and dirt and heavy bags under her eyes. But even in that state of disrepair, Weiss thought she was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. The monitor started to slow and she noticed the doctors exchanging mumbled words as the woman put away the unused syringe.

"Miss Schnee? Can you hear me?" The male doctor asked as he pulled out a pen light. He shined it in her eyes independently as Weiss tried to get some moisture back into her throat.

"Ye…" She breathed quietly. Her throat wasn't exactly sore, but then again, her whole body felt a little numb. She guessed it was whatever painkiller they were pumping into her veins.

"Can you feel this?" He poked her foot with the cap of his pen. Weiss could feel it so she gave a slight nod. "Good, now try to wiggle your toes for me."

Weiss felt his hand rest on her foot and she tried to do as he asked. It was incredibly difficult to tell with the numbness that engulfed her, but she assumed he was satisfied when he removed his hand and placed it on her other foot. She repeated the action and he nodded and made a note. When he took her hands in his, she already knew what he was going to ask and moved her fingers.

"Excellent. What's the last thing you remember?" He asked as the other doctor guided Ruby out of the doorway. "Take your time."

"R-uby." Weiss choked out carefully, attempting to keep her throat under control. "Fight-ing…. She's… okay?"

"Oh, your partner is fine." The doctor dismissed as he made a few notes on a clipboard.

"G… girl-friend." Weiss corrected as the worry that still gripped her failed to dissipate even with the doctor's reassurance. But at least it was getting easier to talk the more she tried. She even felt the beginnings of her saliva start to rehydrate her mouth. "I need to see her."

"What you need is rest, Miss Schnee." The doctor said firmly. "You have five broken ribs, two of which punctured minor arteries causing massive amounts of internal bleeding, and we've had to realign your spinal column. It's very lucky that you don't seem to be paralysed, but we've had to place you on aura blockers to avoid you healing too quickly. The amount of internal damage you sustained would have killed you if your partner hadn't acted as she did."

"Get Ruby." Weiss replied. She knew she needed rest, but by the sounds of it, Ruby wouldn't rest until she knew she was okay. And she knew she wouldn't be able to rest well until she talked to Ruby. "Or I'll find her myself."

The doctor's eyes went wide as Weiss pushed herself up on her elbows. The pain was incredible, like nothing else she'd ever felt before, but at least it helped to clear out the numbness that had held her limbs hostage.

"Fine, I'll get her, but don't you dare try to get up!" He exclaimed as he carefully lowered her back to the bed. "Your spine is very fragile at the moment and there's a distinct possibility that you could end up hurting yourself by attempting to do anything without a doctor to supervise you."

"Looks like we have an agreement." Weiss smiled and closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to block out the last of the wave of pain that had been much more powerful than she had shown. Even if she wanted to, she would probably not try to do that again. Then again, it seemed she wasn't always as logical as she had come to believe.

She heard the doctor leave while mumbling about hunters under his breath, leaving her with only the sound of the heart monitor. A few moments later, she heard the hesitant steps of what could only be Ruby entering. She heard the door click shut and she opened her eyes to find Ruby looking at her with a pair of very red eyes.

"Hi." Weiss said as loud as she dared through her sore throat.

"Oh, god!" Ruby choked as she rushed to the bed, sobs already flowing from her throat as a fresh set of tears streamed forth.

"Ruby, don't cry." Weiss pleaded as she gently took Ruby's hand in her own. The movement sent a spike of pain through her, but she knew how tactile Ruby was. She needed contact right now and this little bit was the best Weiss could do in her current state. Luckily, Ruby's hand wasn't too far from her own.

"They wouldn't tell me anything for so long!" Ruby cried while trying to keep her face out of Weiss's vision. Of course, with Weiss holding her hand, it didn't give her much space to work with. "When they finally let me see you, they told me that you'd died four times in surgery! And then they said that your real fight was just beginning! They said you might not wake up!"

"Ruby, shh…" Weiss whispered as she stroked the back of her girlfriend's hand with her thumb. "It's all over. I'm okay. And according to the doctor, it's thanks to you."

"Weiss-"

"Ruby, just listen. I'm starting to get tired." Weiss said as she realized how tired she truly was. "None of this is your fault, or mine. What matters is that we're both still alive and we completed the mission. We did complete it right?"

Ruby laughed through her tears at how strange Weiss sounded worrying about a mission when she was lying on a hospital bed. "Yeah, you got him Weiss."

"Good." Weiss sighed as she let her eyes drift shut. "Just… don't leave, okay? We'll talk more later."

"Anything you want!" Ruby clasped her hand between both of hers for a moment before letting go and dragging a chair closer so they could keep the contact. Weiss smiled as she took in the quiet sounds of other patients being tended to outside the door.

"And Ruby? I… I'm not sure if it's the drugs talking, but… I think I might… I might be falling in love with you." Weiss said after a moment, knowing she'd be asleep soon.

"Love you too Weiss." Ruby's watery reply came from closer than Weiss expected before she felt the warm breath of the girl ghost past her lips. She smiled as Ruby ever so gently pressed their lips together in a way that made Weiss feel like she was melting. Everything was immediately better. Her pains and aches and even the numbness was less bothersome than before, as if Ruby's lips were the pain medication she really needed.

Weiss sighed in contentment and exhaustion as Ruby backed away and sat in the chair. She entwined her fingers with Weiss's and before long the two fell asleep.

Unfortunately for them, that sleep was not to last, as Weiss awoke with a start as her room was invaded by a nurse carrying a very old telephone.

"Miss Schnee, your father is on the line. He wishes to speak with you and your partner." The nurse said as Weiss came out of her pleasant dream. A wave of dread washed over her as Ruby took the phone. The nurse left after explaining which line he was on and how to activate the speaker phone if necessary.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Weiss?" Ruby asked hesitantly as her finger hovered over the line two button. Weiss hesitated as she watched Ruby hold the receiver to her ear. "If not, I can talk to him for you."

"It's fine. Put it on speaker." Weiss finally decided, relaxing back into her pillows as a wave of nausea washed over her.

Ruby pressed the button and waited a moment as the line emitted a sharp click before returning to silence.

"Hello father." Weiss spoke to the room with her best voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure."

"I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I find out that you've been committed to a hospital for a near fatal injury." His voice was steel. Not a single emotion conveyed through the words he spoke, neither fear nor anger present in the man's speech. "Is it not within my right to find out how my daughter is doing?"

"Well enough, all things considered." Weiss responded simply. "You wished to speak with Ruby too?"

"Hello sir." Ruby spoke, making her presence in the call known. "Weiss is going to make a full recovery, so you don't have to worry!"

"Yes, I gathered that from the doctor's report." His voice seemed to take on an almost mocking sound, or maybe Weiss simply imagined it as Ruby gave no indication of detecting the same. "And I also hear that you are the reason she is still alive."

"Well… I wouldn't go that f-"

"Yes, she is." Weiss interrupted Ruby's attempt at modesty.

"Then my decision is made. Ruby, have you considered employment post graduation?" Mr. Schnee asked suddenly. Weiss wasn't prepared for the proposition, so it took her a while to soak in what was being said. "As the next generation of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss poses a significant target for the company's enemies. And while I'm sure her skills are at a satisfactory level, this incident has made me consider additional security. Specifically in the capacity of a personal assistant for Weiss."

Silence reigned in the room for a moment as Ruby absorbed the words as well. Weiss looked to the shocked look on her partner's face and understood immediately what she was thinking. Almost as if her father had also picked up on the situation, he continued speaking as if anything he said would be able to change the girl's mind.

"Of course, I've already gotten a letter of reference from your headmaster, voicing a strong academic ability, as well as a sufficiently high skill in combat." He said quickly, getting to the meat of his argument. "If it is acceptable, I'd like for you to accompany Weiss on her leave of absence and give the role a trial run, as it were."

"Thank you sir, but-"

"What leave of absence?" Weiss asked, once again cutting Ruby off.

"Well, naturally the one I've had approved by your headmaster." Her father spoke as if to a child. "Considering your injury inhibiting you from participating in most of your scholarly activities, I've seen fit to have you return to the SDC for the time being in order to complete your preliminary business training. I've also had Ruby's leave pre-approved should she feel fit to accompany you."

"And how long will this leave be?" Weiss asked suspiciously. "We only have a few months of school left, so postponing this until after graduation wouldn't be too much of an issue at this point."

"Correct, however there is the charity auction and ball that the SDC organizes coming up in a week's time." He said, putting emphasis on the word charity as if it needed emphasis. "It would be good for the company's image to show that the next generation takes interest in these occasions. Especially if it is an inconvenience to do so."

"I'm not the one who will be taking over the company, so why do I care? Plus if I must show interest, why can't I do it next year after I've graduated?" Weiss argued, though she already knew what was going to happen. As if on cue, her father sighed.

"I'm not asking if you'd wish to attend. I'm informing you that you will attend, and, given the opportunity, you will sing. So start preparing a song." He spoke quickly but not harshly, though Weiss could tell he was growing impatient with the conversation. And once again, as if on cue he cleared his throat and the sound of shuffling papers sounded from his side of the line. "I'll expect you in three days' time. And Ruby? I'd ask that you consider my offer, and ask that you at least give this role a trial over the coming weeks as it would allow you to make a more… informed decision regarding this matter."

"I'll consider it." Ruby replied diplomatically.

"Then good day to the both of you." He said before the line went dead. Ruby replaced the receiver and set the phone aside. She looked at Weiss who was already deep in thought. When Ruby's hand squeezed her own gently, Weiss snapped back to reality.

"Sorry about that. He can be… unpleasant when he wants something." Weiss said as Ruby shook her head in denial.

"Forget about it. We'll talk about it later." Ruby stated simply, rubbing the back of Weiss's hand. "So… a ball, huh?"

"Don't remind me." Weiss grumbled. "It's just an excuse for all the rich pricks, who think they're helping by throwing their money around, feel good about themselves."

"Well, I wouldn't want you to get bored…" Ruby hummed in thought as she tapped her chin with one finger.

"Ruby… you don't have-" Weiss cut herself off as she saw the look in Ruby's eyes. It was the look she always got when she'd made a decision and nothing on Remnant would be able to change it. Weiss sighed and smiled at Ruby as another idea struck her. "Ruby, would you be my date to the ball?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Ruby replied with a smile as she stretched over her girlfriend to place a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Good." Weiss smiled as Ruby resumed her seat. "Because I really don't want to have all the suitors my father invited fawn over me the entire time."

"Ah… now I see why you're going out with me." Ruby hummed thoughtfully, giving Weiss a look that said she'd just figured out the secret of life.

"Dolt. It's… a perk, maybe?" Weiss blushed and looked away. She cursed the painkillers, realizing they definitely were inhibiting her ability to stay composed if she was being so open and bashful with Ruby. _Remember, Weiss. Don't get too attached._ She scolded herself internally, already knowing how useless the reminder was. She'd been attached to Ruby since the second month of their first year.

Ruby perked up a bit at the unsure statement and giggled, looking at Weiss in surprise. There was something else… something unspoken that Weiss was thinking, and Ruby recognized the look as one she'd seen when strategizing with her partner before countless missions.

"What are you planning Weiss?" Ruby asked hesitantly, not liking the mischievous look Weiss had in her eyes, yet getting excited by it at the same time as her bright blue gaze seemed to devour her.

"Something that is completely crazy." Weiss replied. "And I'm on drugs at the moment, so maybe it's downright insane, but…"

"Yeah?" Ruby asked, leaning in slightly.

"It's a secret." Weiss replied, second-guessing her plan at the last moment. She knew Ruby would be thinking about this almost non-stop until she found the answer, but wasn't entirely sure her plan was even feasible. "I'll tell you when my head's on straight again."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So this took a long time, and for that I'm sorry. I had at least six vastly different versions of this that I ended up scrapping because it just didn't end up working out. And with the greatly reduced time I have to write - let's just say it wasn't a good combination.**

 **Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you next chapter!**


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